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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions 


Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


1980 


Technical  Notes  /  Notes  techniques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Physical 
features  of  this  copy  which  may  alter  any  of  the 
images  in  the  reproduction  are  checked  below. 


D 
D 
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Coloured  covers/ 
Couvertures  de  couleur 


Coloured  maps/ 

Cartes  gdographiques  en  couleur 


Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  d6color6es,  tachet^es  ou  piqu6es 


Tight  binding  (may  cause  shadows  or 
distortion  along  interior  margin)/ 
Reliure  serrd  (peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou 
de  la  distortion  le  long  de  la  marge 
intdrieure) 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'll  lui  a  6t6  possible  de  se  procurer.  Certains 
ddfauts  susceptibles  de  nuire  d  Ja  quality  de  la 
reproduction  sont  notds  ci-dessous. 


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D 

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Pages  de  couleur 


Coloured  plates/ 
Planches  en  couleur 


Show  through/ 
Transparence 


Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagdes 


The 
pos 
oft 
filnr 


Th€ 
cor 
on 
apF 

Th< 
filn 
ins 


Ma 

in  « 
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Additional  comments/ 
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Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata  slips, 
tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to  ensure  the 
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D 
D 
D 


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Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 


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D 
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Pages  missing/ 
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Maps  missing/ 

Des  cartes  gdographiques  manquent 


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Plates  missing/ 

Des  planches  manquent 


Additional  comments/ 
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The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Les  images  suivantes  ont  *t*  reproduites  avac  le 
plus  grand  soin.  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettet*  de  I'exemplaire  filmA,  et  en 
conformit*  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche  shall 
contain  the  symbol  — »►  (meaning  CONTINUED"), 
or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"),  whichever 
applies. 

The  original  copy  was  borrowed  from,  and 
filmed  with,  the  kind  consent  of  the  following 

institution: 

Scott  Library, 
York  University 

Maps  or  plates  too  large  to  be  entirely  included 
in  one  exposure  are  filmed  beginning  in  the 
upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to  right  and  top  to 
bottom,  as  many  frames  as  required.  The 
following  diagrams  illustrate  the  method: 


Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparattra  sur  la  der- 
niire  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le  cas: 
le  symbols  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le  symbols 
V  signifie  "FIN". 

L'exempi^ire  filmA  fut  reproduit  grAce  A  la 
gAnirosite  de  I'Atablissement  prAteur 
suivant  : 

Scott  Library, 

York  University 

Les  cartes  ou  les  planches  trop  grandes  pour  Atre 
reproduites  en  un  seul  clichA  aont  film6es  A 
partir  de  Tangle  supArieure  gauche,  de  gaurhe  A 
droite  et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nomt  re 
d'images  nAcessaire.  Le  diagramme  suivant 
illustre  la  mAthode  : 


1 

2 

3 

t 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

3>" 


THE  UNCHANGING  EAST 

VOLUME  1. 


Kl 


If 


Types  of  Syrian  JVotnen 


^ 
^ 

'..V 


The  Unchanging  East 


By 

Robert   Barr 


In  Two  Volumes 
Volume  I. 

ILLUSTRATED 


Boston 
L.  C.  Page  and  Company 

(Incorporated) 
1900 


D6 


Copyright^  i8gg 
By  Rodert  Barr 


Copyright^  i8gg 

By  L.  C.  Page  and  Company 

(incorporated) 


Colonial  l^HtM; 

Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  C.  H.  Simonds  &  Co. 

Boston,  U.  S.  A. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 


PAGB 


The  Tarry,  Trousers-hitching  Seaport  of  Manchester  — 
Delights  of  the  Ship  Canal  — The  Sad  Fate  of  the 
Birmingham  Man-— The  Peaceful  and  Much-libelled 
Bay  of  Biscay  O  —  The  Prince  and  the  Pauper         .      1 1 


CHAPTER  II. 

Portugal  —  Spsun  —  Africa  and  That  Sort  of  Thing  —  An 
Overdone  Petition  —  Going  Up  the  Raging  Canal  to 
Tunis  —  The  Anxiety  We  Caused  in  the  Harbour  — 
Some  Advice  to  the  French  Regarding  Navigation  . 


28 


CHAPTER  III. 

French  Colonising  —  The  Tunis  Arabs  —  An  African 
Music-hall  —  A  Notable  Guide  and  His  Sterling 
Qualities  —  Delights  of  Shopping  in  Tunis  —  Car- 
thage a  Disappointment 60 


VI 


Contents. 

CHAPTER  IV. 


PAGB 


Malta — The  Drama  City  of  Valetta  —  Some  Secrets  of 
English  Rule  —  A  Marvellous  Drummer  —  The  Guide 
with  Forty  Languages 


79 


CHAPTER  V. 

Impressions  of  Alexandra  —  The  Coinage  and  the  Sphinx 

—  Tommy's  Recreation  —  The  American  Occupation 

—  Cyprus 


98 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Baalbec,  the  Superb  —  Origin  of  the  City — The  Found- 
ing of  the  First  Water  Company  —  History  Made 
on  the  Spoc  —  Temples  Galore  —  The  Historian  of 
Baalbec  —  Some  Interesting  Literary  Extracts  —  The 
Tower  of  Babel  Question  Settled  at  Last .        .        .136 

CHAPTER  VIL 

The  Wondeiiul  Druse  Tribe  —  The  Druse's  Contempt 
for  the  Turk  —  Story  of  a  Hitherto  Unrecorded 
Expedition  —  Ordering  a  Fresh  Relay  of  Turks  for 
Slaughtering  Purposes  —  The  Druse  Religion  —  A 
Novel  That  Saved  a  Man's  Life  .        .        -171 


CHAPTER  VHL 

Damascus  in  the  Early  Morning  —  Bazaars  and  Work- 
shops —  An  Arabian  Overcoat  —  Terrors  of  Carriage 
Driving  —  House  Interiors  —  A  Game  of  Horseman- 
ship     189 


Contents. 

CHAPTER   IX. 


vu 

PAGB 


Our  Dragoman  —  The  Damascus  Railway  —  Trouble 
with  the  Governor  —  A  Trip  to  Tripoli  —  High  Jinks 
on  Landing  —  The  Very  Worst  Hotel  in  the  World  .     212 


CHAPTER   X. 

On  the  Track  of  Beer  —  An  Anxious  Search  for  a  Drink 
—  A  Friendly  Stranger  —  A  Personally  Conducted 
Tour  around  Tripoli  —  Embarrassing  Politeness  —  An 
Old  Castle  as  a  Jail 234 


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Ten 
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Gra 
A  S' 
Chu 
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POMl 


LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


VOLUME  I. 


PAGB 

Types  of  Syrian  Women  ....        Frontispiece 

On  the  Mersey 15 

The  Docks  at  Liverpooi 21 

Castello  da  Pena,  Cintra 29 

Gibraltar     ...,....•  33 

Malaga 37 

Tempt.e  at  Carthage 43 

Dancing  Girls,  Tunis 49 

A  Woman  of  Tunis 53 

Curiosity  Shop,  Tunis 61 

A  Moorish  Performance  at  Tunis        ...  67 

Bazaar  in  Tunis 71 

Bedouin  Camp  on    Route  from  Tunis  to  Car- 
thage       75 

Grand  Harbour,  Malta 8i 

A  Street  in  Malta 89 

Church  of  St.  John,  Malta 95 

A  Woman  of  Alexandria 99 

Pompey's  Pillar,  Alexandria 105 

ix 


X  List  of  Illustrations 

PACK 

Climbing  the  Pyramids 109 

Moorish  Tower,  Famagosta,  Cyprus      .        .        •     115 

Beyrout 119 

Bridges  over  the  River,  near  Beyrout      .        .125 

An  Avenue  in  Baalbec 131 

Distant  View  of  Baalbec 137 

Mausoleum,  Palmyra 143 

Temple  of  the  Sun,  Baalbec 149 

Cedars  of  Lebanon 155 

Temple  of  Jupiter,  Baalbec 161 

The  Great  Stone,  Baalbec 167 

Gate  of  the  Temple  of  Jupiter,  Baalbec   .        •173 

Tomb  near  Baalbec 179 

A  Druse  Girl 185 

Damascus  and  the  Barrada  River        .        .        .191 

A  Damascus  Girl 197 

Street  Scene,  Damascus 203 

Tomb  of  Mahomet's  Family,  Damascus         .        .    207 

Selim  G.  Tabet,  Dragoman 213 

Sidon 221 

Selim  G.  Tabet,  in  Native  Costume     .        .        .227 

Tripoli 237 

Turkish  Women 247 


The   Unchanging   East. 


M' 


CHAPTER   I. 

The  Tarry,  Trousers-hitching  Seaport  of  Manchester  — 
Delights  of  the  Ship  Canal  —  The  Sad  Fate  of  the 
Birmingham  Man  —  The  Peaceful  and  Much-libelled  Bay 
of  Biscay  O  —  The  Prince  and  the  Pauper. 

THE  people  of  Manchester,  that  hitherto 
inland  metropolis  of  England,  have  doubt- 
less become  accustomed,  what  with  paying 
interest  on  the  cost  of  the  canal  and  enjoying 
the  balmy  breezes  wafted  from  its  surface,  to 
living  in  a  seaport  town.  But  to  the  outsider, 
unendowed  with  the  privileges  of  Manchester 
citizenship,  it  seems  as  odd  to  leave  that  city  on 
an  ocean  voyage  as  to  depart  from  Denver, 
Colorado,  or  the  top   of   Mount   Washington. 

Yet  from  the  glimpse  I  got  of  it,  Manchester  is 

II 


(; 


12 


The  Unchanging  East. 


an  ideal  spot  to  quit  with  the  object  of  reaching 
the  glorious,  refulgent  East.  A  thick  autumn 
fog,  saturated  soot  in  suspension,  enveloped  the 
town.  The  drive  from  the  station  proved  most 
unattractive  —  I  should  not  care  to  liken  it  to  a 
trip  in  Hades  for  fear  of  being  accused  of 
exaggeration,  because  Hades  at  least  is  warm, 
and  I  believe  the  atmosphere  must  be  more 
clear  than  that  of  Manchester.  Besides, 
through  all  ages,  so  much  abuse  has  been  cast 
upon  the  lower  regions  that  I  am  not  going  to 
add  to  their  trouble  by  invidious  comparison. 
The  water  in  the  dock  and  canal  head  was  about 
the  same  colour  and  thickness  as  of  the  air 
above  it,  and  I  admired  the  instinct  of  the 
cab-driver  which  led  him  to  pull  up  without 
rushing  from  one  element  into  the  other.  By 
feeling  around  in  the  fog  I  found  the  hull  of  the 
steamer  Creole  Prince^  which  was  to  be  my 
home  for  a  couple  of  months.  By  a  marvellous 
bit  of  good  luck,  a  groping  porter  came  upon 
my  trunk,  finding  it  on  the  top  of  the  cab, 
guided  in  that  direction  by  the  hoarse  cries  of 
the  driver.  I  followed  the  advice  of  the  captain 
who  signalled  on  a  memorable  occasion,  "  Don't 
give  up  the  ship,"  and,  clinging  to  it,  vocifer- 


c 


fj 


The  Unchanging  East 


13 


ously  instructing  the  invisible  porter,  we  got  the 
trunk  aboard  through  a  series  of  increcUble 
coincidences,  and  thus,  by  a  singular  streak  of 
favourable  fortune,  I  had  the  boon  of  my  vari- 
ous belongings  during  the  voyage.  When  the 
steamship  company  sent  me  their  printed  rules 
and  regulations,  one  item  therein  immediately 
attracted  my  attention.  It  was  to  the  effect 
that  no  passenger  was  allowed  to  bring  liquor 
on  board  with  him,  so  this  reminded  me  that 
certain  decoctions  were  grateful  and  comforting, 
as  the  advertisements  say,  besides  there  always 
being  a  pleasure  in  breaking  rules ;  so  I  at  once 
bought  four  bottles  of  a  fluid  from  Caledonia  in 
case  I  should  meet  some  personal  friend  on 
board  who  did  not  wear  a  blue  ribbon.  I  had 
concealed  these  flasks  among  the  clothing  in 
my  trunk,  which  may  account  for  my  anxiety  to 
get  the  receptacle  on  board.  I  took  it  that  the 
bottles  would  be  free  from  observation  there, 
for  there  could  be  no  rigid  examination  of 
one*s  effects,  as  a  traveller's  trunk  is  his  castle, 
except  at  the  New  York  custom-house.  The 
blow,  however,  fell  in  another  direction.  On 
the  printed  wine  list  in  the  smoking-room  I  was 
horrified  to  find  that  the  particular  brand  I  had 


H 


The  Unchanging  East. 


invested  in  was  twenty-five  cents  cheaper  per 
bottle  than  the  price  I  had  paid  in  London. 
When  you  remember  that  the  beverage  and  my- 
self were  both  Scotch,  the  peculiar  discomfort 
of  the  situation  may  be  imagined.  Bang  had 
gone  eight  saxpences  with  no  prospect  of  return. 

I  almost  always  judge  a  strange  ship  by  its 
smoking-room  ;  but  this  compartment  on  the 
Creole  Prince  bore  a  striking  resemblance  in 
size  and  accoutrements  to  a  rather  big,  rather 
long,  dry-goods  box.  This  was  a  disappoint- 
ment to  a  man  brought  up  on  sumptuous 
Atlantic  liners.  There  was  a  door  at  each  end, 
and  two  seats  along  each  side,  with  a  couple  of 
round  metal  tables  in  between  them.  I  nearly 
deserted  the  ship  when  I  saw  this  inadequate 
fumigating  chamber,  but  first  impressions  are 
never  safe  guides  to  follow,  and  before  many 
days  were  past  I  came  to  look  upon  that  smok- 
ing-room with  an  affection  that  did  not  seem 
possible  at  the  beginning  of  the  voyage. 

Manchester  runs  its  section  of  the  Great  Deep 
with  all  the  enthusiasm  of  a  novice.  London 
is  a  veteran  in  maritime  affairs,  and  quite  often 
a  ship  comes  to  that  port  without  causing  any 
commotion  in  the  west  end  of  the  metropolis. 


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The  Unchanging  East. 


17 


London  can  start  a  steamer  without  so  much  as 
a  "  God  bless  you,"  and  allow  her  to  wend  her 
way  to  whatever  quarter  of  the  globe  she  cares 
to  point  her  prow.  Not  so  Manchester;  she 
provides  one  tug  for  the  stem  and  another  for 
the  stern  of  every  steamship  that  leaves  her 
port,  and  thus  the  trio  go  cautiously  along  the 
canal,  the  spirit  of  Manchester  hovering  over 
the  craft  all  the  way  down  the  Mersey,  mur- 
muring *'  For  Heaven's  sake  be  careful !  "  The 
consequence  is  there  are  no  shipwrecks  on  the 
Manchester  Canal.  Passengers  on  a  liner  are  not 
distressed  by  picking  up  emaciated,  starving  sail- 
ors in  an  open  boat.  No  one  is  ever  marooned 
on  its  banks  and  mutinies  rarely  take  place  on 
its  quiet  waters,  for  the  crews  know  if  they 
raised  a  fuss  the  captain  would  simply  call  in 
the  police.  What  a  lesson  is  this  to  the 
turbulent  Atlantic  Ocean !  If  navigation  were 
conducted  between  England  and  America  as 
circumspectly  as  it  is  along  the  Manchester 
Ship  Canal,  Clark  Russell  would  have  to  aban- 
don his  work  and  occupy  himself  with  the 
dialect  novel. 

It  takes  the  best  part  of  a  day  for  a  steamv^r 
to  steal   its  way  down   the   Manchester   Ship 


i8 


The  Unchanging  East. 


I 


Canal  and  the  trip  has  many  points  of  differ- 
ence from  an  ordinary  ocean  voyage.  I  know 
few  other  marine  trips  where  a  man  can  sit  in  a 
deck  chair  on  an  ocean  Uner  and  watch  cyclists 
scorching  past  him.  You  rarely  see  sights  like 
this  on  the  Pacific  or  Indian  Ocean,  or  even  on 
the  Mediterranean  Sea.  I  got  acquainted  with 
one  fellow  passenger  on  the  way  from  the  Man- 
chester dock  to  the  big  lock  that  let  us  out  into 
the  Mersey  near  Liverpool.  This  man  sat 
alone  and  disconsolate  in  his  steamer  chair,  and, 
imagining  he  was,  perhaps,  sad  at  leaving  Man- 
chester, I  thought  it  would  cheer  him  up  a  bit 
if  I  pointed  out  to  him  that  we  could  not  pos- 
sibly reach  a  more  depressing  spot  than  the 
city  we  had  just  left.  I  found,  however,  that 
he  was  a  Birmingham  man,  and  quite  ready  to 
agree  with  everything  that  I  could  say  to  the 
disadvantage  of  Manchester,  his  condition  being 
merely  that  of  sorrow  in  anticipation. 

*'  We  have  no  ship  canal  in  Birmingham,'* 
he  said,  mournfully,  "  and  so  we  natives  are  little 
accustomed  to  the  freaks  of  the  raging  main. 
I  always  dread  the  first  night  at  sea,  which  is 
now  rapidly  approaching.  Do  you  know  if  there 
is  anything  one  can  take  for  it  .^  *' 


The   Unchanging  East. 


19 


"  Well,"  I  replied,  "  I  have  heard  it  said  that 
champagne  is  one  of  the  best  antidotes,  and,  as 
I  am  always  anxious  to  assist  a  fellow  passenger 
in  distress,  I  don't  mind  joining  you,  if  you 
order  a  bottle." 

"  Alas !  "  said  the  Birmingham  man,  "  the 
customs  officials  have,  it  seems,  sealed  up  the 
liquors  on  board  this  boat,  and  we  cannot  get 
at  them  until  we  are  out  at  sea,  when  I  fear  it 
will  be  too  late." 

His  evil  anticipation  proved  only  too  accurate. 
It  was  pitch  dark  when  we  were  turned  loose 
from  the  great  lock  which  forms  the  mouth  of 
the  canal.  The  Birmingham  man's  berth  was 
next  to  mine,  and  all  that  night  I  realised  with 
painful  distinctness  what  a  bad  time  he  was 
having.  It  did  not  seem  to  me  that  there  was 
motion  qnough  in  the  steamship  to  account  for 
all  the  distress  which  had  fallen  on  Birminghar.. 
In  fact,  I  congratulated  myself  because  the 
room  I  occupied  was  so  situated  that  I  could  not 
hear  the  throb  of  the  engines.  With  the  callous- 
ness of  mankind,  however  (it  being  a  case  in 
which  I  could  render  no  assistance),  I  went  to 
sleep  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  a  fellow  creature 
so  near  me   was    in   the    most    abject   misery. 


T^ 


20  The  Unchanging  East. 

Early  next  morning  upon  going  on  deck  I  was 
amazed  to  learn  that  we  hadn't  moved  an  inch. 
There  had  been  a  thick  fog  on  the  Mersey  all 
night,  which  only  cleared  away  a  few  minutes 
before  I  had  left  my  bunk.  Anxious  to  impart 
this  intelligence,  I  went  down  and  rapped  at  the 
door  of  the  Birmingham  man's  room. 

"  How  are  you  feeling  ? "  I  inquired. 

"  Oh,  miserable,"  he  answered.  "  I  always 
have  a  time  like  this  the  first  night  at  sea,  but 
I'll  be  all  right  from  now  on." 

"  It  seemed  to  me  reasonably  calm  last  night," 
I  ventured. 

"  I  have  n'^  doubt  that  it  was  calm,"  replied 
the  Birmingham  man,  "but  the  slightest  rocking 
that  would  not  be  perceptible  to  another,  quite 
upsets  me." 

"Well,"  said  I,  "the  only  rock  that  this  ship 
can  be  likened  to  is  that  of  Gibraltar.  We 
were  anchored  all  last  night,  and  this  fact 
gives  me  a  scientific  interest  in  your  case.  It 
seems  to  me  that  an  imaginative  man  prone  to 
seasickness  might  have  his  first  tussle  with  the 
malady  the  night  before  he  leaves  the  shore,  and 
then  he  could  thoroughly  enjoy  the  voyage  from 
beginning  to  end."     As  the  right  hand  of  the 


^ 


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< 

u 
o 


m^t^m'mfmmmytrm 


The  Unchanging  East. 


23 


distressed  voyager  began  groping  about  the 
floor  as  if  in  search  of  some  missile  Hke  a  boot, 
I  concluded  it  well  to  postpone  inquiry  regard- 
ing mai  de  mer  and  imagination  until  some 
future  occasion. 

The  Bay  of  Biscay  is  a  much-maligned  sheet 
of  water.  Nearly  all  writers  have  represented 
it  as  being  ill-tempered  and  turbulent,  whereas, 
on  the  contrary,  it  is  as  placid  as  a  summer  lake. 
I  know  what  I  am  talking  about  because  I  have 
been  over  it  twice,  and  I  intend  to  bring  to  the 
notice  of  the  Geographical  Society  this  serious 
libel  against  a  blameless  expanse  of  inoffensive 
water. 

It  was  a  lovely  evening  when  we  encountered 
the  ship  Gabrielle  of  Grenville,  a  port  in  France. 
As  the  reader  may  not  be  personally  acquainted 
with  this  vessel,  I  venture  to  explain  that  she 
is  a  three-masted  ship,  carrying  on  her  deck 
great  heaps  of  shallow  skiffs  piled  one  on 
top  of  another,  upside  down,  like  so  many 
pie-dishes. 

When  we  sighted  the  Gabrielle  all  sails  were 
set,  and  she  looked  rather  fine  with  such  a 
spread  of  canvas  reflectmg  the  rays  of  the 
declining  sun.     But   she   was   acting   queerly, 


w 


\! 


\r 


24 


The  Unchanging  East. 


which  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  considering  she 
is  French.  There  was  not  much  wind  blowing, 
—  in  fact,  the  chief  characteristic  of  the  Bay 
of  Biscay  is  absence  of  wind,  —  but  the  Gabrielley 
taking  advantage  of  the  Httle  breeze  that  was 
stirring,  moved  hither  and  thither  in  aimless 
fashion,  as  if  she  couldn't  make  up  her  mind 
which  way  to  go,  or  as  if  there  was  no  one  at 
the  helm,  which  we  afterward  found  to  be  the 
case.  Our  captain,  Mark  Campbell,  of  the 
Creole  Prince^  surmised  that  they  had  lost  their 
reckoning.  I  do  not  understand  much  about 
navigation,  neither  do  the  French,  it  seems,  but 
it  would  appear  to  me  to  be  a  simple  thing  to 
lock  up  their  reckoning  in  a  cupboard  or  put  it 
in  the  safe  where  it  might  be  had  when  wanted. 
I  was  informed,  however,  that  it  is  quite  a  fre- 
quent occurrence  for  French  ships  to  mislay 
their  reckoning  and  then  find  themselves  in  the 
position  of  the  man  in  the  song  who  "dunno 
where  'e  are."  By  the  orders  of  Captain  Camp- 
bell a  huge  blackboard  was  hung  out  upon  our 
starboard  side  with  the  latitude  and  the  longi- 
tude written  on  it  plainly  in  great  white  figures 
of  chalk.  This  board  was  slung  up  in  a  con- 
spicuous position  at  the  end  of  the  bridge,  and 


) 


I    Ify'iM 


The  Unchanging  East. 


25 


as  we  passed  the  undecided  ship,  the  attention 
of  her  officers  was  called  to  the  figures  thus 
displayed.  No  one  on  board  was  paying  the 
slightest  attention  to  the  navigation  of  the 
Gabriclle.  The  whole  crew  were  clustered  like 
bees  in  a  group  at  the  side,  and  one  (who  was 
apparently  the  captain)  had  elevated  himself 
above  the  rest,  and  was  gesticulating  violently 
on  the  mainmast's  ladder  of  rope.  They  shouted 
oiiiy  oui  and  trh  bien  when  we  called  attention 
to  the  second  mate's  amazing  phonography  on 
the  blackboard.  When  they  realised  the  Creole 
Prince  was  about  to  pass  calmly  on  its  way, 
the  officers  and  crew  raised  a  simultaneous 
wail,  and  every  man  on  board  the  Gabrielle 
began  throwing  his  arms  about  as  if  he  were  an 
animated  windmill.  They  were  really  howling 
for  provisions,  and  we  had  flung  to  them  a 
reckoning  which,  however  interesting  to  the 
mathematician,  satisfies  neither  the  soul  nor 
the  stomach.  They  had  asked  for  bread,  and 
we  had  given  them  a  stone  in  the  shape  of 
chalk-marks.  When  Captain  Campbell  saw 
that  they  were  actually  in  distress,  he  swung 
the  great  steamer  slowly  round  and  came  up 
with  them  again.     We  tried  to  intimate  to  the 


26 


The  Unchanging  East. 


master  of  the  Gabrielley  with  the  voice  of  a 
foghorn,  that  it  might  be  well  if  somebody  went 
to  the  wheel ;  but  this  advice  was  unheeded, 
the  whole  crew  dancing  about  like  the  inmates 
of  a  lunatic  asylum  off  for  an  excursion  upon 
the  sea  —  there  and  back  for  a  dollar.  Our 
captain  then  had  to  describe  a  ver)'-  large  circle 
to  keep  out  of  the  way  of  the  erratic  Gabrielle^ 
which  was  acting  similar  to  her  crew.  The 
French  hilariously  flung  one  of  their  little 
shallops  on  the  sea  and  bundled  a  couple  of 
men  over  the  side.  It  may  be  added  that  these 
sailors  spoke  French  very  much  more  fluently 
than  any  of  our  own  crew.  They  came  along- 
side in  a  bubbling  state  of  excitement.  They 
had  lost  their  reckoning,  they  said,  but,  what 
was  worse,  they  had  consumed  all  their  vegeta- 
bles. Scurvy  had  broken  out ;  eight  of  the 
men  were  down  with  it.  They  had  been  fishing 
for  a  year  off  the  banks  of  Newfoundland,  and 
now  hadn't  the  slightest  idea  whciC  they 
were  —  whether  in  the  Atlantic,  the  Pacific, 
the  Indian  Ocean,  or  Lake  Superior.  They 
were  amazed  to  learn  they  were  just  out  of 
sight  of  the  French  coast,  and  evidently  con- 
sidered their  position  a  wonderful  piece  of  luck. 


i 


The  Unchanging  East. 


27 


Over  the  sides  of  the  steamer  were  lowered  to 
them  great  heaps  of  cabbages,  several  sacks  of 
potatoes,  an  oblong  case  of  lime-water,  and 
then,  to  cap  the  climax,  the  captain  ordered 
several  pounds  of  jet-black  tobacco  to  be  given 
them.  The  two  men  howled  with  delight  when 
the  tobacco  came  upon  them,  as  it  were,  from 
the  sky.  A  huge  giant  of  a  bronzed  sailor, 
who  said  he  was  from  Brittany,  seized  a  plug 
and  seemed  to  bite  off  more  than  he  could  chew, 
but  he  somehow  managed  it ;  then  flinging  the 
remnant  of  the  plug  to  the  other  sailor,  it 
swiftly  disappeared  in  his  mouth.  "  Tank  you, 
tank  you,"  roared  the  Breton,  which  was  all  the 
English  the  two  possessed  between  them.  As 
they  rowed  back  in  their  little  butter-dish  to  the 
wandering  ship,  they  shouted  across  the  waters 
to  their  comrades  the  one  word  "  tabac,"  and 
a  great  cheer  went  up  from  the  decks  of  the 
Gabrielle.  Yet  these  are  the  people  who  are 
raising  the  devil  on  the  Newfoundland  coast, 
and  shouting  "  Perfidious  "  across  at  England. 


CHAPTER   II. 


Portugal  —  Spain  —  Africa  and  That  Sort  of  Thing  —  An 
Overdone  Petition  —  Going  Up  the  Raging  Canal  to 
Tunis — The  Anxiety  We  Caused  in  the  Harbour  —  Some 
Advice  to  the  French  Regarding  Navigation. 

WE  spent  one  lovely  day  skirting  the  coast 
of  Portugal,  seeing  charming  little  towns 
of  dazzling  white  against  the  reddish  ground 
of  the  landscape.  Somewhat  inland  we  had 
a  fine  view  of  the  great  Convent  of  Mafra, 
800  feet  long  from  north  to  south,  and  700  feet 
from  east  to  west,  with  its  866  rooms,  its  5,200 
windows,  and  its  sumptuous  marble  dome.  I 
did  not  count  the  windows  myself,  nor  did 
I  visit  the  rooms,  but  there  is  no  use  of  pos- 
sessing an  "  Encyclopaedia  Britannica "  if  you 
do  not  use  it,  and  thus  throw  a  glamour  of 
learning  over  articles  written  about  travel. 

Next  we  came  to  Cintra,  the  Bunker  Hill  of 
Lisbon,  although  Cintra  is  farther  removed  from 
the  capital  of  Portugal  than  Bunker  Hill  is  from 

i>8 


< 

ai 
H 

r. 

u 

< 


The  Unchanging  East. 


31 


the  capital  of  Massachusetts.  The  mountains 
of  Cintra,  running  down  to  the  coast,  rise  to  the 
height  of  three  thousand  feet.  Again  the  ency- 
clopaedia. On  the  top  is  1  castle,  the  summer 
residence  of  the  Court  of  Portugal.  We  were 
all  very  anxious  to  see  this  palace,  but  a  cloud 
clung  to  it  pe/sistently,  and  rendered  it  invisible. 
Since  that  time,  however.  Great  Britain  and 
Portugal  have  come  to  an  amicable  understand- 
ing, and,  doubtless,  Portugal  has  now  arranged 
that  no  cloud  shall  hover  in  the  vicinity  of  its 
palace  when  an  English  steamer  is  passing. 
There  was  a  dim  glimpse  of  Lisbon  as  we 
crossed  the  wide  mouth  of  the  Tagus,  and  the 
fishing-boats  in  the  neighbourhood,  with  their 
lateen  sails,  had  a  distinctly  Eastern  appearance. 
We  were  evidently  drawing  farther  and  farther 
away  from  Manchester.  There  flies  along  this 
coast  a  large  semi-marine  bird  with  a  long  beak. 
Alas  !  I  cannot  give  its  name,  so  it  is  impossible  to 
look  it  up  in  the  encyclopaedia,  but  the  Portu- 
guese method  of  catching  it  is  well  worthy  of 
the  attention  of  the  Society  for  the  Prevention 
of  Cruelty  to  things  in  general.  This  bird  lives 
on  fish,  and  hovers  high  in  the  sky  to  keep  an 
alert  eye  on  the  ocean  below,   dropping  on  a 


32 


The   Unchanging  East. 


good  thing  now  and  then,  like  the  water-hawk 
it  is.  The  Portuguese  have  a  pleasant  habit  of 
nailing  a  fish  to  a  two-inch  plank,  and  setting 
the  plank  afloat  with  the  fish  uppermost.  The 
ill-fated  bird,  flying  a  mile  high,  then  offers  a 
terrible  example  of  the  futility  of  taking  an 
interest  in  only  one  thing  at  a  time.  The  bird 
is  well  posted  on  piscatorial  subjects,  but  is 
utterly  ignorant  of  the  timber  trade,  so  when 
it  drops,  like  a  meteor  through  the  air,  down 
upon  the  fish,  it  gets  the  fish  undoubtedly,  but 
it  dies  instantly,  as  its  beak  pierces  the  floating 
timber  underneath.  This  seems  to  show  that 
doctors  are  quite  correct  when  they  say  that 
food  should  not  be  bolted  too  hurriedly. 

It  was  midnight  when  we  passed  Gibraltar. 
I  regret  to  say  it  has  always  been  my  luck  to 
come  upon  this  celebrated  fortress  in  the  dark- 
ness. Pretty  nearly  everybody  else  in  the  world 
has  seen  Gibraltar,  excepting  myself.  As  we 
steamed  along  through  the  smooth  black  waters, 
the  rock  loomed  up  darkly  ahead,  and  a  wicked 
little  quick-firing  light  at  its  foot  guided  the 
vessel.  However,  there  is  one  satisfaction  in 
viewing  the  rock  at  ^  'dnight,  for  as  we  passed 
through  the  Straits,  and  saw  its  huge  dark  bulk 


< 

< 

OS 

pa 


t 


( 


h    f1 


!!:,, 


I 


The  Unchanging  East. 


35 


against  the  less  dark  sky,  the  resemblance  to 
one  of  Landseer's  lions  was  most  striking.  The 
great  beast  lies  there  with  its  head  facing  the 
Atlantic,  watching  every  craft  that  approaches 
the  narrow  channel.  The)  tell  me  that  in 
the  school-books  of  Spain  it  is  never  admitted 
that  Gibraltar  belongs  to  the  British.  Spain,  it 
seems,  allows  this  people  to  occupy  Gibraltar 
temporarily,  and  as  soon  as  Spain  has  need  of 
the  rock,  of  course  she  will  take  it.  It  is  always 
pleasant  to  know  that  if  you  want  a  thing,  all 
you  have  to  do  is  to  go  and  get  it.  I  think  it 
shows  a  beautiful  disposition  on  the  part  of 
Britain  to  spend  so  much  money  in  running 
tunnels  through  the  rock  of  Gibraltar,  and  in 
building  great  docks,  when  it  knows  that  at  any 
moment  Spain  may  come  forward  and  say, 
politely,  "I'll  trouble  you  for  that  bit  of  rock, 
if  you  please."  Truly,  as  Mark  Twain  remarked, 
the  British  are  mentioned  in  Scripture,  where  it 
says  that  "  The  meek  shall  inherit  the  earth.'* 
It  is  very  fortunate  for  Great  Britain  that  Spain 
has  no  particular  use  for  Gibraltar  at  the  pres- 
ent moment,  because  I  am  sure  England  would 
be  loath  to  give  it  up,  even  though  terrorised 
by  Spain. 


36 


The  Unchanging  East. 


Next  morning  by  daybreak  the  steamer  was 
heading  in  for  the  town  of  Malaga,  and  a 
more  beautiful  sight  than  that  ancient  city  and 
its  surroundings,  with  its  background  of  high 
mountains,  would  be  difficult  to  imagine.  I 
was  very  much  impressed  with  the  magnifi- 
cence of  Malaga  Cathedral,  standing  out  mas- 
sively above  the  town  with  the  level  rays  of 
the  scarcely  risen  sun  illuminating  it,  and  was, 
therefore,  correspondingly  depressed  when  I 
read  in  the  afore-mentioned  encyclopaedia,  after 
my  return,  that  the  building  is  of  no  impor- 
tance whatever,  and  that  it  shows  how  Spain 
has  degenerated  in  architecture,  her  failure  in 
this  line  being  nearly  as  great  as  her  collapse 
in  war.  The  next  largest  structure  in  Malaga 
appears  to  be  the  bull-fighting  building,  but  as 
the  encyclopaedia  is  silent  about  this  coliseum 
of  red  brick,  I  dare  not  venture  an  opinion 
regarding  its  architecture. 

I  toured  all  day  along  the  southern  coast 
of  Spain,  travelling  by  means  of  the  roads 
which  skirt  the  seashore,  my  conveyance  being 
a  binocular  glass.  It  is  a  most  charming  method 
of  travel,  seated  in  a  steamer  chair,  and  bring- 
ing  the   road  right  up  to   the   ship  with    the 


er  was 
and  a 
ty  and 
f  high 
ne.  I 
lagnifi- 
t  mas- 
ays  of 
d  was, 
hen  I 
I,  after 
impor- 
Spain 
lure  in 
oUapse 
VTalaga 
Dut  as 
iseum 
pinion 

coast 

roads 

being 

lethod 

jbring- 

the 


< 

< 

5? 


The  Unchanging  East. 


39 


assistance  of  a  strong  pair  of  glasses.  I  passed 
many  Spaniards  on  the  road,  mostly  mounted 
on  mules,  the  riders  generally  seated  far  astern 
on  the  animal,  projecting  their  legs  forward  at 
an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees.  The  Spaniards 
were  invariably  occupied  in  either  smoking  a 
cigarette  or  rolling  one.  I  passed  through 
several  picturesque  towns,  mostly  situated  on 
hills,  or  frowning  promontories ;  sometimes 
clustered  round  an  ancient  Moorish  castle,  and 
often  the  steamer  dragged  my  tardy  opera- 
glass  away  from  some  spot  in  which  I  wished, 
like  Lu,  to  linger  longer.  There  are  few  signs  of 
manufacture  along  the  southern  Spanish  coast, 
the  majority  of  the  inhabitants  apparently  being 
engaged  in  riding  mules  to  and  fro.  Here 
and  there,  near  the  swampy  marshes'  where 
esparto  grass  flourishes,  are  long,  low,  white 
one-story  buildings  with  tall  chimneys,  where 
the  grass  is  prepared  for  the  making  of  paper. 
Paper  being  the  great  source  of  Spanish  cur- 
rency, they  do  well  to  foster  the  growth  of 
esparto.  All  along  the  coast  are  high  moun- 
tains, scored  in  a  great  many  places  where  the 
torrents  have  been  in  too  great  a  hurry  to  get 
to  the  sea.     One  spot  was  pointed  out  to  me 


^n 


40 


The  Unchanging  East. 


Si 


as  an  example  of  the  efficacy  of  prayer.  For 
three  years  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  had 
yearned  for  rain,  but  not  a  drop  fell  in  all 
that  time.  The  Spaniard  rarely  quenches  his 
thirst  with  so  elementary  a  liquid  as  water, 
and  as  for  washing,  he  never  thinks  of  it,  so 
it  takes  about  three  years  of  drought  to  make 
a  Spaniard  realise  that  the  weather  is  abnor- 
mally dry.  At  last,  however,  the  priests  of 
the  place  called  out  the  whole  town  and 
inaugurated  a  general  prayer-meeting  for  rain. 
That  night  a  storm  burst  with  such  force  in 
the  mountains  that  the  torrent  swept  the  vil- 
lage into  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  The  sur- 
vivors seemed  to  think  that  this  was  rather 
overdoing  a  good  thing,  and  have  ever  since 
been  careful  not  to  be  too  pious. 

It  was  evening  when  we  left  the  coast  of 
Europe,  and  the  next  afternoon  we  took  on 
the  coast  of  Africa.  The  principal  need  of  the 
northern  coast  of  Africa,  as  viewed  from  the 
steamer's  deck,  seems  to  be  inhabitants.  For 
miles  and  miles  along  the  coast  not  a  house 
or  a  human  being  was  to  be  seen,  and  yet 
the  land  is  said  to  be  fertile  and  the  climate 
a  dream  of  delight.     As  France  has  practically 


i 


The  Unchanging  East. 


41 


collared  all  this  portion  of  the  earth,  it  strikes 
an  impartial  observer  that  the  sensible  thing 
for  that  country  to  do  would  be  to  induce 
emigrants  to  settle  upon  these  lands,  instead 
of  fooling  round  the  world  interfering  with 
other  people's  possessions.  But  France  has 
recently  resolved  to  acquire  the  leather  medal 
for  stupidity,  and  has  become  a  troublesome 
neighbour,  while  as  a  coloniser  she  is  beneath 
contempt. 

It  was  a  lovely  evening  when  we  passed 
the  ruins  of  ancient  Carthage,  and  dropped 
anchor  in  the  Bay  of  Tunis.  The  outlook 
from  the  steamer's  deck  is  one  worth  going 
many  miles  to  see.  Far  to  the  east  a  moun- 
tain range  skirts  the  waters  of  the  bay,  while 
to  the  west  is  a  picturesque  rolling  country, 
the  near  hills  dotted  with  white  villas  on  the 
site  of  ancient  Carthage.  Hannibal  would 
now  doubtless  be  shocked  to  learn  that  his 
great  metropolis  is  merely  a  pleasant  summer 
resort  for  the  people  of  Tunis.  Closer  at  hand 
lies  the  little  seaport  town  of  Goletta,  once 
the  harbour  of  Tunis,  the  Liverpool  of  the 
province,  but  here  there  is  the  Manchester 
Ship   Canal   business   over  again,  and   foreign 


42 


The  Unchanging  East. 


steamers  now  give  Goletta  the  go-by,  proceed- 
ing direct  to  Tunis  itself,  the  Manchester  of 
the  country.  We  were  compelled  to  drop 
anchor  because  we  had  arrived  outside  at  the 
hour  during  which  two  mail  steamers  are  timed 
to  leave  Tunis,  and  the  canal  here  differs  from 
the  one  at  Manchester  in  that  two  steamers 
cannot  pass  each  other  on  its  murky  waters. 
These  mail  steamers,  being  French,  naturally 
never  thought  of  leaving  at  the  hour  indicated. 
French  trains  and  French  steamers  love  to 
be  late.  If  a  French  conveyance  ever  so  far 
forgot  itself  as  to  depart  at  the  hour  named 
on  the  time-table,  it  would  not  have  a  passenger 
on  board,  for  every  one  counts  on  the  universal 
tardiness.  Finally,  we  saw  the  two  steamers 
coming  in  procession,  apparently  overland, 
with  all  flags  flying.  They  passed  us  just  as 
darkness  set  in,  two  hours  late,  more  or  less, 
and  then  we  were  allowed  to  hoist  our  anchor 
and  feel  our  way  into  the  big  ditch.  The  canal 
is  something  like  twelve  miles  long,  and  is  a 
straight,  unlovely,  black  trench,  with  banks  of 
black  mud.  They  have  put  electric  lights  all 
along  this  waterway,  and  so  navigation  is  pos- 
sible at  night.     The  French  Government  com- 


roceed- 
ster  of 
)    drop 
at  the 
I  timed 
s  from 
eamers 
waters. 
Lturally 
licated. 
Dve   to 
so  far 
named 
senger 
iversal 
^amers 
^rland, 
ust  as 
r  less, 
inchor 
canal 
I   is  a 
iks  of 
its  all 
pos- 


f 


\M 


TEMPLE   AT   CARTHAGE. 


com- 


ii| 


The  Unchanging  East. 


45 


pels  any  ship  entering  the  harbour  of  Tunis 
I  to  take  on  a  pilot,  no  one  but  a  Frenchman, 
I  of  course,  being  allowed  to  act  in  that  capacity. 
It  might  be  supposed  that  the  French  Govern- 
ment would  insist  that  the  pilots  should  know 
something  of  their  business,  but  this  is  too 
great  a  compliment  to  pay  to  French  logic. 
The  pilot  we  took  aboard  was  a  fat  man,  with 
charming  manners,  but  little  skill  at  navigation. 
He  spoke  no  English,  but  after  having  the 
matter  explained  to  him  he  very  quickly  picked 
up  the  knowledge  that  one  side  of  the  ship 
was  port  and  the  other  starboard.  The  French 
are  a  very  adaptable  people. 

Darkness  had  settled  around  us  when  the  fat 
man  took  up  his  position  in  front  of  the  pilot- 
house on  the  bridge.  Captain  Campbell,  mas- 
ter of  the  Creole  Prince^  stood  near  the  telegraph 
which  communicated  with  the  engine  room,  and 
his  genial  face  was  overcast  with  a  shadow  of 
uneasiness.  The  ship  was  practically  out  of  his 
charge,  and  the  pilot  now  on  board  was  respon- 
sible for  its  safety ;  nevertheless  the  captain 
was  on  the  alert,  and  all  the  passengers  cer- 
tainly felt  a  sense  of  relief  that  this  was  so,  for 
the   English-speaking   person   has    little   confi- 


46 


The  Unchanging  East. 


dence  in  a  foreign  commander.  The  man  at  the 
wheel  was  a  typical  bullet-headed  British  sailor, 
with  a  voice  like  a  foghorn ;  the  way  that  he 
would  sonorously  roll  out  the  words  "  Staaarrr- 
brd,  sir ! "  might  have  been  a  lesson  in  elocu- 
tion to  the  greatest  actor  living.  It  was 
evident  that  the  actions  of  the  French  pilot 
did  not  commend  themselves  to  the  captain. 
Not  knowing  the  essential  words  '*  port "  and 
"  starboard,"  the  pilot  stood  there  and  waved 
his  hand  to  right  or  left,  saying  nothing.  This 
appeared  to  me  a  practical  device,  but  it  did  not 
please  the  captain.  It  seems  that  if  a  pilot  does 
not  speak  out  so  that  others  may  hear,  the  sub- 
stituted wave  of  the  hand  is  not  evidence  in  a 
court  of  inquiry.  "  Speak  up,"  said  the  cap- 
tain. "That  side's  starboard,  and  that  side's 
port ;  say  so.  Give  your  comma  -^  so  that  the 
wheelman  can  hear  you."  -A^  .nat  we  had 
extraordinary  commands,  as  «^rt,  je  vous  de- 
mand pardon,  monsieur,  je  dire  starboard."  The 
inevitable  result  was  that  before  long  we  felt 
underfoot  a  slight  shiver  which  told  us  that  the 
ship  was  aground.  With  a  quick  movement 
the  captain  sprang  to  the  telegraph,  and  reversed 
the  engine.    Luckily  the  banks  of  the  canal  are 


The  Unchanging  East. 


47 


like  soft  soap,  and  the  steamer  slipped  away 
from  Africa  as  if  she  were  being  launched  on 
greased  timber.  I  don't  know  what  the  captain 
said  to  the  pilot.  The  conversation  was  in  very 
low  tones,  and  the  communication  was  appar- 
ently delivered  with  extreme  politeness,  but 
anyhow,  the  result  was  that  the  fat  man  deliv- 
ered up  the  ship  to  its  master  and  went  down 
into  the  cabin,  where  a  bottle  of  excellent 
brandy  was  awaiting  him.  He  proved  more 
expert  at  the  brandy  than  at  the  piloting. 
Meanwhile,  Captain  Campbell,  with  a  sigh  of 
relief,  ran  the  steamer  the  length  of  the  canal 
without  a  hitch. 

The  basin  of  Tunis  which  forms  the  terminus 
of  the  canal  is  not  of  very  great  capacity,  and 
a  few  ships  crowd  it  uncomfortabl  '.  It  was 
amazing  how  our  own  vessel  had  grown  since 
we  left  Manchester.  Alongside  of  the  big 
transatlantic  liners  at  Liverpool,  the  Creole 
Prince  was  but  an  ordinary-sized  steamer,  but 
on  the  Mediterranean  she  seemed  to  have  en- 
larged tremendously,  and  now  overtopped  any- 
thing we  saw  in  those  waters.  Our  respect  for 
her  good  qualities  had  increased  in  proportion, 
and  nowhere  did  she  look  so  big  as  in  that  con- 


48 


The  Unchanging  East. 


tracted  harbour  of  Tunis.  The  white  glare  of 
arc  lamps  lit  up  the  gloomy  water  of  the  har- 
bour, and  showed  us  the  craft  of  differing  variety 
among  which  we  must  take  our  place.  To  the 
left  was  a  steam  dredge  which  had  appa^^ently 
just  left  off  working.  In  front  of  us  was  a  trim 
two-masted  yacht  with  the  tricolour  flying  aloft, 
and  her  guests  on  the  smooth  white  deck  under 
the  awning  enjoyed  after-dinner  coffee.  To  the 
right  was  a  small  French  cruiser  of  exquisite 
shape,  evei^thing  neat  and  trim  about  her, 
bristling  with  cannon,  and  looking  rather  formi- 
dable with  her  ram-shaped  bow.  All  was  calm 
and  peaceful  when  the  towering  sharp  bow  of  the 
Creole  Prince  intruded  itself  and  claimed  a  place 
in  this  restricted  basin.  Having  come  in  stem 
forward  and  wishing  to  go  out  stem  forward 
when  the  time  came  for  bidding  farewell  to 
Tunis,  the  steamer  naturally  had  to  be  turned 
around.  The  space  for  performing  this  opera- 
tion certainly  looked  to  a  landsman  rather  con- 
fined, and  the  bulk  of  the  steamer  appeared  to 
have  increased  alarmingly  since  we  had  left  the 
Mediterranean.  It  lc»oked  as  if  we  were  trying 
to  put  too  big  a  peg  into  too  small  a  hole. 
Edgar  Salt  us  has  somewhere  remarked  that 


■I-I 


\\ 


that 


DANCINC.    GIRLS,    TUNIS. 


The  Unchanging  East. 


51 


the  French  fear  nothing  but  danger,  and  we 
were  to  have  an  exemplification  of  this  epigram. 
The  helm  was  set  at  the  proper  angle  and,  as 
the  screw  began  churning  the  turbid  water,  the 
stern  of  the  steamer  swerved  slowly  around  to- 
ward the  barge  with  the  dredging  outfit  on  it. 
The  watchman  on  the  barge  suddenly  saw  loom- 
ing over  him  the  black  mountainous  stern  of  o"'* 
ship,  and  he  gave  himself  up  for  lost.  He  uttered 
a  cry  resembling  a  scream,  which  roused  the 
echoes  of  the  harbour  and  brought  out  half  a 
dozen  navvies  from  their  supper  in  the  house  on 
the  boat.  All,  raising  simultaneous  voices,  im- 
plored our  captain  to  spare  them. 

"  How  many  feet  have  you  to  clear  that 
barge,  Mr.  Stewart  ? "  cried  the  captain  from 
the  bridge.  . 

"Twenty  feet,  sir,"  reported  the  second 
officer  at  the  stern,  in  stentorian  voice.  The 
huge  hull,  moving  with  the  leisurely,  impressive 
dignity  of  a  floating  continent,  cleared  the  ani- 
mated lunatic  asylum  by  the  number  of  feet 
that  Mr.  Stewart  had  predicted,  and  a  sudden 
calm  fell  upon  the  inhabitants  of  the  barge. 

Now  we  approached  the  yacht,  and  this  craft 
was  evidently  not  going  to  be  outdone  in  excite- 


i 


52 


■I 


The  Unchanging  East. 


ment  by  the  barge.  The  wild  commotion  that 
had  just  been  seen  on  the  dredge  communi- 
cated itself  to  the  vessel  of  pleasure.  Each 
man  sprang  to  his  feet,  chairs  were  overturned, 
and  a  panic  ensued.  The  crew  rushed  here 
and  there.  Everybody  seemed  to  be  in  com- 
mand. Half  a  dozen  sailors  got  long  slender 
poles,  which  they  pointed  at  us  over  the  bul- 
warks, giving  the  pretty  yacht  the  appearance 
of  a  porcupine.  Shrieks  went  up  as  though 
inevitable  destruction  was  bearing  down  upon 
them.  The  commander  wrung  his  hands  and 
appealed  pathetically  to  our  skipper  as  from  one 
captain  to  another.  We  began  to  be  alarmed 
ourselves  at  the  seemingly  inevitable  interna- 
tional slaughter. 

"How  many  feet  have  you  to  clear  that 
yacht,  Mr.  Stewart  ?  "  rang  out  the  voice  of 
the  captain. 

"  Thirty  feet,  sir,*'  answered  the  confident 
Stewart,  and  sure  enough  we  passed  the  yacht 
at  that  distance,  and,  as  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes 
said,  "  Silence  like  a  poultice  came  to  heal  the 
blows  of  sound."  And  thus  the  yacht  was 
saved ! 

Some  one  leaned  over  the  bulwarks  of  the 


f?*^ 

;^:;' 


M 


the 


Hi 


;^ 


The  Unchanging  East. 


55 


cruiser  and  yelled  to  our  captain  to  mind  what 
he  was  about.  Then,  receiving  no  reply  and 
feeling  we  were  bent  on  the  annihilation  of  the 
French  fleet  with  true  British  perfidy,  the  naval 
officer  threw  all  self-control  to  the  winds,  flung 
his  hands  despairingly  into  the  air,  and  piped 
the  crew  on  deck.  It  is  amazing  how  many 
men  a  small  French  war-vessel  will  hold.  They 
came  swarming  up  from  every  conceivable  aper- 
ture ;  and  the  scene  reminded  me  of  nothing  so 
much  as  a  densely  inhabited  ant-hill  suddenly 
poked  with  a  stick.  The  commotion  on  the 
gunboat  was  a  hundred  times  greater  than  the 
turmoil  on  the  barge  or  the  yacht,  because  there 
were  a  hundred  times  more  men  on  the  cruiser 
than  on  either  of  the  other  craft.  I  feared  some 
of  them  would  jump  overboard  in  their  excite- 
ment. The  men  tumbled  over  each  other  in 
their  hurry.  The  shrill  wailing  shriek  of  the 
boatswain's  whistle  sounded  incessantly,  but 
nobody  seemed  to  pay  the  least  attention  to 
it.  It  was  all  like  a  nightmare  remembrance 
of  a  comic  pirate  opera. 

Suddenly  there  was  a  sharp  word  of  command 
from  our  captain,  and  the  anchor  plunged  head- 
long with  a  glorious  splash  to  the  accompany- 


i?f 


i 


1 


I! 


56 


The  Unchanging  East. 


ing  roar  of  the  running  chain.  The  thick  rope 
from  the  stern,  attached  to  a  stout  pillar  ashore, 
whose  dancing,  bending  slack  had  been  coquet- 
tishly  kissing  the  face  of  the  waters,  grew  gradu- 
ally taut,  and  the  big  ship  came  to  rest.  Captain 
Campbell,  having  rung  off  his  engineer,  now 
stood  with  one  hand  on  the  rail,  and  taking  off 
his  cap  with  the  other,  said  suavely  to  the  com- 
mander of  the  ironclad : 

"  I  think  there  is  space  between  us,  sir,  for 
safety,  but  if  you  wish,  I  can  move  a  few  feet 
farther  away." 

-  The  naval  oflficer  looked  down  at  the  inter- 
vening water  for  a  few  moments,  then  said, 
good-naturally,  considering  all  the  fuss  there 
had  been : 

^  "  Trh  bieuy  trks  bien ;  al-right,  al-right,  mon- 
sieur le  capitaine.'*  ^ 

I  have  written  this  account  of  our  entering 
the  harbour  at  Tunis  with  some  detail  because 
I  am  fo  .  of  my  friends  the  French,  and  would 
like  to  do  them  a  service.  The  squirrel  is  a 
beautiful,  sprightly  animal,  charming  in  all  its 
movements,  lithe,  quick,  and  easily  excited,  but 
it  does  not  take  to  the  water  like  the  stolid 
beaver.     Each  to  his  place,  and  thus  are  the 


The  Unchanging  East. 


57 


uses  of  the  universe  well  served.  I  doubt  if 
Providence  ever  arranged  for  a  Frenchman  to 
take  command  of  a  ship.  A  strong  fleet  has 
never  done  France  any  good,  and  never  will. 
Naval  figures  are  most  deceptive.  A  French- 
man figures  up  that  as  he  has  a  hundred  ships 
and  the  other  fellow  has  only  fifty,  he  can 
smash  up  that  fifty  and  have  half  a  hundred 
left,  coming  out,  therefore,  the  victor.  This  is 
arithmetically  correct,  and  thus  are  the  French 
nation  deluded  by  mathematics  ;  but  mathemat- 
ics have  a  nasty  habit  of  going  to  pieces  when 
the  guns  begin  to  roar.  The  multiplication 
table  does  not  seem  able  to  stand  the  impact  of 
a  well-aimed  shell.  At  the  time  France  was 
meditating  interference  on  behalf  of  her  neigh- 
bour in  the  Spanish- American  war,  •  a  French 
naval  officer  outlined  to  me  with  sublime  con- 
fidence the  programme  of  his  country  should 
such  an  intervention  take  place.  It  was  admi- 
rably simple.     '■'     •  '■'   ^^  ''- ' 

"We  would  go  over,"  he  said,  "with  our  fleet 
and  smash  up  the  American  fleet.  Then  we 
would  never  allow  them  to  build  another  ship. 
We  would  say  to  them,  *  If  you  attempt  to  con- 
struct a  battle-ship  we  will  go  over  and  smash 


i\\ 


^ 


w 


58 


The  Unchanging  East. 


it  before  it  is  ready  to  be  launched.'  Then  the 
Americans  would  be  helpless  so  far  as  interfer- 
en'^e  with  European  affairs  is  concerned." 

"  But  what  would  the  American  fleet  be  doing 
all  this  time  ? "  I  inquired. 

"What  could  it  do?"  he  replied  in  amaze- 
ment at  such  a  question.  "  We  have  ten  ships 
to  their  one  !  " 

The  fate  of  a  French  fleet  in  Santiago  har- 
bour would  have  been  exactly  similar  to  that  of 
the  Spanish.  The  American  and  the  English 
know  how  to  handle  their  ships,  and  incidentally 
their  guns,  while  the  French  do  not.  A  French 
ironclad  battered  away  at  Crete  for  four  hours, 
and  only  added  to  the  hilarity  of  nations.  The 
Camperdown  four  miles  away,  fired  four  shots 
from  a  big  gun,  and  the  Cretan  fort  dis- 
solved in  dust.  Of  late  years  the  French  have 
been  swaggering  around  the  world  a  good  deal, 
interfering  with  the  preserves  of  peaceable  na- 
tions, and  my  serious  advice  to  them  is  to  chuck 
it,  otherwise  they  will  run  their  fleet  against 
somebody  else's  navy,  and  then  it  will  be  — 
"  The  boy,  oh,  where  was  he  .**  "  If  the  French 
are  wise  they  will  turn  their  battle-ships  into 
mercantile  craft,  and  make  some  money  in  com- 


?*gBiaBa^ 


1 


The  Unchanging  East. 


59 


merce.    They  should  take  to  heart  the  beautiful 
lines  of  a  Western  poem,  which  runs  : 

"  Mother,  may  I  go  out  to  swim  ?  "     «  Yes,  my  darling 

daughter ; 
Hang  your  clothes  on  a  hickory  limb,  but  don't  go  near 

the  water." 


j 


1 


1 


■iii 


'1/ 


,f 


I 


f  ( 


CHAPTER  III. 

French  Colonising  —  The  Tunis  Arabs  —  An  African  Music- 
hall  —  A  Notable  Guide  and  His  Sterling  Qualities — De- 
lights of  Shopping  in  Tunis  —  Carthage  a  Disappointment. 

THERE  is  a  word,  a  very  graphic  word, 
which  applies  to  French  colonising,  and 
that  word  I  make  them  a  present  of.  It 
is  the  word  "perfidious."  A  lovely  word  and 
expressive.  France  jumped  into  Algeria,  and 
swore  by  all  the  gods  that  she  would  not  stay 
there,  but  she  stayed  just  the  same.  She  did 
likewise  with  Tunis ;  Madagascar  also.  The 
first  thing  she  does  when  she  collars  a  foreign 
place  is  to  lay  out  a  boulevard  and  build  a  cafe 
chantant.  The  moment  you  set  foot  on  the  quay 
at  Tunis,  you  think  you  are  in  a  French  provin- 
cial town.  You  find  yourself  in  the  Avenue  de 
la  Marine,  with  a  street  car  line  running  along 
it ;  fare,  ten  centimes.     There  is  a  row  of  trees 

down  the  centre,  and  electrical  lights  flare  every- 

6o 


an  Music- 
ties —  De- 
pointment. 

c   word, 
ing,  and 
of.      It 
^ord  and 
jria,  and 
not  stay 
She  did 
The 
foreign 
1  a  cafe 
he  quay 
1  provin- 
enue  de 
ig  along 
of  trees 


re  every- 


CURIOSITY    SHOP,    TUNIS. 


'i 


^^ 


II 


*\ 


The  Unchanging  East 


63 


where.  Every  second  building  is  a  caf6  with 
little  iron  tables  in  regular  rows  outside,  round 
which  Frenchmen  sit  in  groups  drinking  absinthe 
and  cognac,  and  trying  to  imagine  themselves  in 
Paris.  This  avenue  runs  as  straight  as  a  lin^ 
from  the  custom-house  to  the  fine  Moorish 
gateway,  whose  name,  Bab-el-Bahr,  the  French 
have  conventionalised  into  Porte  de  France. 
Passing  through  the  gateway  the  change  is  start- 
ling. A  few  steps,  and  the  West  becomes  the 
East.  On  one  side  of  the  gate  is  a  huge  cafd 
chantant,  brilliant  with  electricity,  bustling  and 
noisy  waiters  hustling  about ;  ici  on  parte  Fran- 
gais;  the  usual  suggestive  songs  on  the  stage, 
and  all  that  goes  to  make  a  caf6  chantant  in 
Paris.  On  the  other  side,  narrow  slits  of 
thoroughfares,  darkness,  silence,  stealthy  move- 
ment of  hooded,  cloaked,  masked,  mysterious 
figures,  and  an  undefinable  sense  of  impending 
danger.  The  surroundings  are  of  a  sort  in  which 
a  man  might  suddenly  disappear  and  never  come 
to  the  surface  again.  A  cold  shiver  up  the 
back-bone  seems  to  anticipate  the  sudden  tv»rust 
of  a  hidden  knife,  and  one  goes  hurriedly  back 
through  the  gate  again,  with  a  feeling  of  relief 
to  be  in  the  blaze  of  electricity  once  more. 


iy 


.41 


i     I 


64 


The  Unchanging  East. 


,1 


The  Tunisian  Arab  is  a  personage  of  great 
dignity  and  even  majesty  of  deportment.  Man 
for  man,  the  little  French  soldier  is  not  to  be 
compared  with  him.  He  is  built  on  a  generous 
scale,  and  is  usually  lighter  in  complexion  than 
most  of  his  French  conquerors.  The  flowing 
robes  he  wears  give  free  play  to  Lis  well-pro- 
portioned limbs,  and  the  proud  swagger  of  him 
as  he  comes  down  the  street  is  something  beau- 
tiful to  behold.  Like  the  man  who  broke  the 
bank,  he  walks  along  the  Bois  de  Boulogne 
with  an  independent  air  that  is  inimitable. 
You  would  think  he  owned  the  earth,  whereas 
he  does  not  possess  even  his  native  portion  of 
it.  How,  then,  came  this  free  and  independent 
people  to  be  under  the  dominion  of  an  alien  race  ? 
"  Don't  swear,  but  shoot,"  said  the  Rough  Rider, 
when  that  high-clas3  regiment  fell  into  an  am- 
bush ;  and  in  this  remark  lies  the  key  to  em- 
pire. A  man  s^'tting  in  an  armchair,  working  a 
Maxim,  can  make  it  very  unpleasant  for  the 
neighbourhood.  Personal  bravery  is  of  no  effect 
when  confronted  with  a  machine  gun.  A  long 
laminated  shooting  iron,  built  in  the  fashion  of 
1699,  is  useless  against  the  magazine  rifle  of 
two  hundred  years  later.     The  Arabs  swore  by 


The  Unchanging  East. 


65 


a 


Mahomet,  the  inventor  of  their  religion,  and  shot 
fter  the  fashion  of  Wartz,  the  inventor  of  gun- 
powder. So,  naturally,  they  were  thrashed. 
They  were  too  far  behind  the  times. 

Then,  again,  they  did  not  fall  in  with  modern 
ideas,  when  collecting  their  revenue.  Well  into 
the  present  century,  they  depended  on  piracy, 
instead  of  adopting  its  modern  equivalent,  the 
custom-house,  and  thus  they  gave  France  an 
excuse  for  interfering. 

A  party  of  us  chartered  a  guide,  who  spoke 
seven  languages  so  badly  that  if  he  had  added 
one  or  two  more  to  his  list,  he  would  have  been 
incomprehensible.  I  could  make  little  of  his 
English,  less  of  his  French,  and  nothing  at  all  of 
his  Arabic,  Phoenician,  and  Sanscrit.  He  seemed 
surprised  that  we  did  not  care  to  go  to  the 
French  cafe  chantant,  and  he  assured  us  that 
the  singing  was  better  than  at  native  entertain- 
ments, while  the  beer  and  the  brandy  were 
much  preferable.  However,  we  had  not  come 
to  Africa  to  see  a  second-hand  French  ballet, 
when  there  was  a  Moorish  show  to  be  witnessed 
on  'V .  native  heath.  It  detracted  somewhat 
from  the  romance  of  the  expedition,  when  he 
bundled  us  into  an  open  street  car,  very  much 


■*>'. 


Ml 


\t 


i 


I' 


II 


'\    I 


66 


The  Unchanging  East. 


similar  to  the  summer  public  vehicles  in  any 
city  in  America,  except  that  in  Tunis  two 
horses  supplied  the  electricity.  We  rode  on 
through  the  dark  narrow  streets,  and  after  a 
journey  of  half  a  mile  or  so,  descended  in  front 
of  the  place  of  entertainment.  We  were  dis- 
gusted to  find  that  the  price  of  tickets  was 
one  franc  each.  Nol  that  we  objected  to  the 
payment  of  twenty  cents,  but  we  would  have 
preferred  to  have  been  asked  for  some  unpro- 
nounceable Moorish  coin  whose  value  we  did 
not  understand. 

International  exhibitions  ought  to  be  sup- 
pressed. They  take  away  all  the  delights  of 
foreign  travel.  The  show  we  were  called  upon 
to  endure  was  in  no  wise  different  from  what  a 
visitor  to  the  Chicago  Exhibition  might  have 
seen  ;  it  wasn't  even  improper.  It  is  true  that 
the  audience  consisted  largely  of  Arabs  in  their 
picturesque  costume  and  headgear.  Excellent 
coffee,  too,  was  two  cents  a  cup,  which  was 
cheaper  than  the  prices  ruling  in  Chicago.  The 
four  or  five  girls  who  had  armchairs  in  the 
centre  of  the  back  of  the  stage  were  not 
uncomely  specimens  of  the  human  race.  An 
energetic  young  man  at  the  right  hand  side  put 


1  any 
5  two 
de  on 
ifter  a 
I  front 
re  dis- 
s  was 
to  the 
I  have 
unpro- 
ve  did 

e   sup- 
:hts   of 
d  upon 
what  a 
t   have 
e  that 
n  their 
cellent 
h  was 
The 
in   the 
e    not 
An 
ide  put 


V3 


'J. 

y, 

< 

O 


t/3 
O 

o 


<J: 


}, 


^  "^ 


i 


111 


II 
d 
a 
a' 
w 
e 
e; 
o 
fi 
h 
ti 

g 
h 

ai 

V( 

ai 
A 
ir 
d: 
h 

IT 

ir 
si 
m 
w 
d. 


The  Unchanging  East. 


69 


in  his  time  at  hard  labour  on  an  earthenware 
drum  open  at  one  end  and  covered  with  calf  skin 
at  the  other,  on  which  he  pounded  spasmodic- 
ally with  his  eight  fingers.  He  seemed  to  be 
working  by  the  day  rather  than  by  the  job,  and 
every  nov/  and  then  began  drumming  with 
extraordinary  impetuosity ;  but  lassitude  soon 
overcame  him,  and,  gradually  tapering  off,  he 
finally  ceased,  and  put  in  some  time  polishing  the 
head  of  the  drum  by  a  circular  motion  upon  his 
trousers.  Then,  after  a  rest,  during  which  he 
gazed  around  upon  us  seated  at  the  small  tables, 
he  suddenly  recollected  what  he  was  paid  for, 
and  attacked  his  drum  with  renewed  fury.  The 
vocal  music  was  of  the  same  intermittent  char- 
acter. It  was  a  sort  of  go-as-you  please  concert. 
A  girl  would  unexpectedly  begin  an  aimless  wail 
in  a  high  key  and  the  rest  would  join  in,  the 
drummer  beating  time  or  not  as  best  it  pleased 
him ;  then  the  girl  was  seen  to  reconsider  the 
matter  and  drop  out,  whereupon,  by  and  by, 
inspiration  seized  another  of  the  group,  with  a 
similar  inconsequent  result.  Several  of  the 
male  performers,  with  weird  instruments,  played 
when  it  suited  them.  All  in  all,  there  was  a 
deplorable  lack  of  cohesion  in  the  performance. 


ii^r 


tat 


^^ 


70 


The  Unchanging  East. 


I  I 


N '' 


It  was,  indeed,  a  concert  of  Africa,  but  it  re- 
minded me  of  nothing  so  much  as  the  Concert  of 
Europe  wl.en  indulging  in  a  Cretan  symphony. 

Next  day,  in  charge  of  the  same  guide,  we 
perambulated  the  bazaars  of  Tunis.  These 
consist  of  an  inextricable  maze  of  rabbit  war- 
rens, roofed  with  timber  and  for  the  most  part 
shrouded  in  twilight  gloom.  On  each  side  of 
the  arcaded  alleys  —  alleys  so  narrow  that  not 
more  than  two  or  three  can  walk  abreast  in 
them  —  are  little  cubby-holes  of  shops  where 
things  are  for  sale.  There  is  one  advantage  in 
dealing  with  the  bazaars  at  Tunis,  and  that  is 
you  are  certain  of  the  genuineness  of  the  articles 
you  purchase.  All  the  cutlery  and  strange  im- 
plements are  made  in  Birmingham,  and  the 
cloths  for  the  most  part  come  from  Manchester. 
Of  course  you  sometimes  run  across  goods 
from  Germany,  but  a  man  with  reasonable  care 
may  be  certain  that  he  is  bringing  back  with 
him  articles  of  undoubted  English  Midland 
make.  We  saw  them  unpacking  bales  that  had 
come  by  our  own  steamer  the  night  before,  and 
were  naturally  delighted  to  have  an  opportunity 
of  encouraging  the  commerce  of  Manchester. 

Gratitude  here  leads  me  to  say  a  word  or 


i 


7 


^ 


it  re- 
cert  of 
hony. 
le,  we 
These 
t  war- 
t  part 
ide  of 
at  not 
ist  in 
where 
age  in 
hat  is 
rticles 
^e  im- 
d  the 
ester, 
goods 

care 
with 
dland 
t  had 

and 
unity 
er. 
rd  or 


■i 


\\ 


BAZAAR    IN    TUNIS. 


i 

! 

i 

[ 

1 

1 

11 

J: 

\!i 


^ 


The  Unchanging  Fast. 


1Z 


two  in  favour  of  our  guide,  and  I  cordially 
recommend  him  to  any  traveller  who  happens 
to  touch  at  Tunis.  I  am  sorry  that  I  cannot 
remember  his  name,  for  he  told  us  he  had  one, 
but  you  will  have  no  difficulty  in  finding  him. 
Most  of  the  guides  who  apply  for  your  favour 
seem  not  to  have  washed  themselves  for  the 
last  three  years.  Very  well,  you  pick  out  the 
guide  who  has  not  had  a  bath  for  five  years  and 
that's  our  man.  You  can't  miss  him.  He 
comes  of  a  distinguished  family.  His  grand- 
father was  one  of  those  estimable  pirates  who 
brought  down  on  Tunis  the  resentment  of 
united  Europe ;  the  grandson  carries  on  the 
same  business,  but,  like  a  civilised  man,  has 
some  respect  for  the  forms  of  law.  We  had 
him  on  the  second  day  simply  because  we 
could  not  shake  him  off,  short  of  killing  him, 
and  we  didn't  like  to  do  that,  being  in  a  strange 
country.  Finding  it  impossible  to  get  rid  of 
him,  we  took  him  along,  for  he  explained  to 
us  that  we  belonged  to.  him  by  right  of  dis- 
covery. In  the  bazaar,  when  we  wanted  to  stop 
at  some  attractive  shop,  which  probably  would 
not  pay  him  commission,  he  dragged  us  boldly 
away,  crying,  "  This  man  is  a  thief ;  avoid  him." 


4jf 


B 


m 


^l 


IK 


C 


i| 


ffl 


74 


The  Unchanging  East. 


I  have  no  reason  to  doubt  the  truthfulness  of 
his  assertion,  and  naturally  he  wished  to  take 
us  to  his  own  particular  thieves.  The  guide 
was  exceedingly  frank  in  speaking  of  his  own 
proteges  in  trade.  "This  man,"  he  would  say, 
airily,  "  will  treat  you  right.  He  is  not  honest, 
exactly,  but  /  am  here,"  whereupon  he  would 
smite  his  breast,  **and  I  will  see  that  you  are 
fairly  dealt  with."  The  trader  would  smile, 
and  spread  out  before  us  beautiful  Manchester 
goods  which  he  informed  us  in  a  whisper  were 
made  by  the  ladies  of  the  Sultan's  harem,  who, 
now  that  the  French  had  come,  were  compelled 
to  do  something  to  wile  away  the  time,  their 
income  having  been  seriously  diminished  on 
account  of  the  invasion.  By  the  grace  of  the 
Bey  or  the  Dey,  or  whoever  the  nominal  gover- 
nor is,  this  particular  trader  was  allowed  to  sell 
these  priceless  scarves  for  the  insignificant  figure 
oi  $io  each.  The  scarves  were  no  strangers  to 
me ;  I  had  seen  them  in  suburban  London  shops 
marked  iij^d.  apiece,  but  when  the  trader 
mentioned  ;SJio,  our  guide  became  furious. 
"  Thief  and  robber !  "  he  exclaimed,  "  did  I  not 
tell  you  that  these  men  were  under  my  protec- 
tion }     Ten   dollars  !  —  that   is    pirating !     No, 


P 


f! 


o 
< 


at 
< 
u 


75 


O 

ai 

u 

b 
O 

o 


< 
u 

O 
Q 
U 
CQ 


4/,    ' 
1, 

Mil    jl 


t 
t 

f 

11 
h 

t.l 


u  t 


i 


in 
a 

w; 

to 

on 
an 
of 
ha 
ser 
be) 


tak 


so 

ove 

awc 


The  Unchanging  East. 


77 


they  shall  pay  no  such  money,"  and  snatching 
the  scarf  from  the  hand  of  the  trader,  he  rapidly 
folded  it  in  a  piece  of  brown  paper  and  passed 
it  on  to  us,  saying  with  virtuous  indignation  in 
his  tones,  "  You  will  pay  him  no  ten  dollars  ; 
that  is  what  the  French  are  charged.  Give  him 
five  dollars  and  I  will  make  him  take  it.  I  shall 
not  have  my  people  robbed  ! " 

The  shopkeeper  protested  with  vociferous 
indignation  that  he  would  be  ruined  were  such 
a  transaction  completed.  My  friend  the  doctor 
waved  aside  the  wrapped  parcel. 

"No,  no,"  he  cried.  "We  cannot  consent 
to  rob  this  poor  man  of  his  just  gains.  We  are 
on  a  friendly  tour,  not  on  a  piratical  expedition, 
and  refuse  to  take  advantage  of  your  coercion 
of  the  shopkeeper.  This  scarf,  made  in  a 
harem,  is  well  worth  $25,  and  we  cannot  con- 
sent to  take  it  for  less."  The  guide  looked 
bewildered. 

"Very  well,"  he  said  with  a  sigh,  "he  will 
take  $25." 

"  Alas  !  "  said  the  doctor,  "  we  cannot  afford 
so  much,  therefore  the  purchase  must  stand 
over  till  we  return  to  Tunis  richer  men.  Come 
away  and  show  us  another  street." 


'ill 


4  ^; 

V, 

>■»  1' 
ill  T 


'  •:     V 


.    i  ; 


« 1 


s  ii 


I 


M  I 


^1      1        I 


:.» 


78 


The  Unchanging  East. 


The  one  thing  that  Tunis  really  manufactures 
is  the  brimless  tasselled  red  Turkish  cap,  called 
tarbush  or  Fez,  which  it  makes  for  all  the  Moslem 
world.  Tunis  also  does  a  little  silk  weaving, 
but  if  Manchester  were  to  become  suddenly 
engrossed  by  the  ship  canal  to  the  neglect  of 
her  looms,  most  of  the  shops  from  Tunis  to 
Damascus  would  have  to  put  up  their  shutter:, 
if  they  possess  such  a  thing. 

The  guide  lured  us  into  hiring  a  carriage  and 
driving  out  into  the  so-called  ruins  of  Cartl  ^ge. 
This  involved  a  long  journey  over  a  flat,  seem- 
ingly arid  country  on  a  reasonably  jolty  bad 
road,  and  when  you  reach  Carthage,  Coney 
Island  is  a  wealth  of  antiquity  compared  to  it. 
Carthage  is  the  most  disappointing  city  in  the 
ruin  line  that  I  ever  visited,  and  I  have  seen 
some  of  the  famous  ruined  towns  in  America. 
I  suppose  Carthage  actually  did  stand  on  that 
spot,  but  there  are  few  evidences  left  of  the 
fact  outside  of  the  guide  book. 


%  ■ 


CHAPTER   IV. 


IM 


Malta  —  The  Drama  City  of  Valetta  —  Some  Secrets  of  Eng- 
lish Rule  —  A  Marvellous  Drummer  —  The  Guide  with 
Forty  Languages. 

IN  the  evening  we  left  Tunis  and  struck 
across  the  water  for  Malta.  It  was  late 
in  the  afternoon  of  next  day  when  we 
skirted  the  island  of  Goza,  which  is  practically 
Malta's  next-door  neighbour.  The  island  of 
Goza  seems  to  have  been  constructed  some- 
what as  a  Scotchman  mvakes  oatmeal  porridge. 
When  porridge  comes  to  the  boil  its  surface  ^*s 
turbulent,  with  small  active  volcanoes  which 
become  conical  extinct  craters  as  the  mixture 
hardens.  The  island  of  Goza  is  covered  with 
these  solidified  craters,  and  seems,  therefore,  to 
have  risen  by  heaven's  command  out  of  the 
azure  main  by  volcanic  action.  The  island 
shv;uld  by  right  be  inhabited  by  Scotchmen, 
for  it  possesses  a  coin  valued  at  one-sixth  of 

79 


IM 


lii'i 


fl! 


1^,1 


'«  I 


t 


<   ; 


M! 


1 


i      ! 


8o 


The  Unchanging  East. 


a  cent,  and  if,  as  the  saying  has  it,  the  farthing 
was  invented  to  enable  Scotchmen  to  contribute 
to  the  cause  of  religion,  then  the  islands  of  Goza 
and  Malta  should  be  three  times  more  attractive 
to  us  Scotsmen  as  a  place  of  residence  than  any 
other  spot  on  earth. 

Malta  is  the  Clapham  Junction  of  the  Medi- 
terranean Sea.  As  almost  any  train  you  enter 
near  London  will  run  you  ultimately  into  Clap- 
ham  Junction,  so  nearly  every  steamer  on  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  will  land  you  at  Malta  if  you 
give  it  time. 

The  entrance  into  the  harbour  at  Valetta  at 
night  is  most  imposing.  Valetta  did  not  seem 
real,  but  looked  like  stage  scenery  got  up  for 
a  naval  display  at  Drury  Lane  Theatre.  Once 
ashore  the  illusion  was  far  from  being  dispelled, 
and  one  could  easily  fancy  himself  to  be  walk- 
ing amongst  the  characters  of  a  drama.  The 
smartly  uniformed  naval  officers  might  well 
have  trod  the  boards  of  the  Adelphi  in  Lon- 
don. Greeks,  Italians,  Arabs,  and  almost  every 
other  nationality  were  to  be  met  in  the  street. 
Then  the  costume  of  the  women  lends  a  pictur- 
esque detail  to  the  general  stagy  effect.  They 
wcai  d  sort  of  lateen  sail  enveloper  made  of 


H;  ' 


~1' 


T, 


Hi 


I 


Hh! 


1: 


( 


i^l 


'! 


'  ) 


«) 


ii 


V 


{ 

liii 


!i 


black 

appeal 

a  pnei 

in  the 

envelo 

that,  s 

her  fai 

tates. 

treatec 

adopte 

same  j 

in   moi 

Lorraii 

rather 

Napole 

stealing 

He   lo( 

every  til 

on,  and 

Malta,  i 

after   s( 

industri 

left  for 

Talki 

but   adi 

some  01 


The  Unchanging  East. 


83 


black  cloth,  and  the  arch  of  this  over  the  head 
appears  to  be  kept  in  place  by  a  wire  like 
a  pneumatic  tire.  The  end  of  this  wire  is  held 
in  the  hand  of  the  lady  who  wears  this  lateen 
enveloper,  and  by  giving  it  a  twist  this  way  or 
that,  she  can  set  sail  as  pleases  her,  and  cover 
her  vace  or  leave  it  exposed  as  the  whim  dic- 
tates. I  was  told  that  Napoleon  and  his  troops 
treated  the  women  of  Malta  so  badly  that  they 
adopted  this  black  costume  on  somewhat  the 
same  principle  as  the  French  themselves  drape 
in  mourning  the  statue  groups  of  Alsace  and 
Lorraine  in  the  Place  de  la  Concord,  ParL  1 
rather  doubt  the  truth  of  this  story,  because 
Napoleon,  honest  man,  occupied  himself  in 
stealing,  most  of  the  time  he  was  in  Malta. 
He  looted,  from  the  church  .id  elsewhere; 
everything  of  value  he  could  lay  his  hands 
on,  and  as  he  was  only  six  days  altogether  in 
Malta,  it  will  be  evident  to  his  detractors  that, 
after  seeing  all  the  sights  and  engaging  in 
industrious  thievery,  there  was  not  much  time 
left  for  anything  else. 

Talking  aboi^t  highway  robbery,  one  cannot 
but  admire  the  English,  who  stood  by  while 
some  one  else  paid  the  expense  of  fortifying 


tti 


Hi 


84 


The  Unchanging  East. 


'  It 


.iii^i 


Malta,  building  up  the  town,  and  all  that,  and 
when  it  was  completed  calmly  collared  it.  Fools 
build  fortresses ;  the  English  come  and  live  in 
them.  Malta  certainly  possesses  what  is  prob- 
ably the  finest  harbour  in  the  world,  and  I  wish 
I  owned  it  myself.  The  exasperating  thing  tr 
other  nations  is,  that  when  England  does  put 
the  lion's  paw  on  a  place  the  natives  actually 
have  the  indecency  to  prefer  English  rule,  and, 
like  the  man  in  the  advertisement,  will  take  no 
other.  The  Maltese  revolted  against  the  French, 
and  lost  twenty  thousand  men  in  endeavouring  to 
oust  them.  Per  contra^  they  cried  for  English 
rule  and  would  not  be  happy  till  they  got  it. 
Now  why  is  this  .'*  It  seems  to  me  if  I  were 
a  Frenchman,  or  a  German,  or  a  Russian,  or  a 
Spaniard,  that  is  one  of  the  first  things  I  should 
try  to  find  out,  so  in  my  role  of  genial  friend  of 
all  these  nationalities,  I  shall  give  them  the  result 
of  my  own  investigations  into  the  subject.  It 
is  because  England  is  a  wholesale  robber  who 
never  descends  to  petty  larceny.  She  grabs 
the  big  offices  for  herself,  and  is  content  to  let 
the  natives  fill  all  the  smaller  ones.  If  yoM  gave 
England  the  earth,  which  it  were  superfluous  to 
do,  because  she  has  got  most  of  it,  she  would 


W 


The  Unchanging  East. 


85 


put  one  of  her  own  governors  at  the  head  of 
every  state,  place  her  own  generals  and  chief 
officials  in  command  of  the  armies  and  the 
departments,  and  then  she  would  divide  the 
swag  of  the  smaller  offices  with  those  whom 
she  would  piously  say  Providence  had  set  her 
to  rule  over.  Now  when  France,  par  exemplcy 
jumps  into  somebody  else's  territory,  pretending 
she  is  not  going  to  stay  and  then  does  stay,  she 
takes  everything  to  herself.  Every  official,  from 
the  governor-general  down  to  the  most  insignifi- 
cant gendarme,  must  be  a  Frenchman.  Every 
concession  given  must  be  bestowed  upon  French- 
men ;  the  foreigner  or  the  native  gets  no  show. 
The  Frenchman  even  keeps  out  foreign  trade, 
and  in  many  French  ports  will  not  even  allow 
a  foreign  vessel  to  enter.  Now,  this  is  terrible 
folly,  for  how  are  you  going  to  take  the  breeks 
of  a  foreigner  if  you  do  not  let  him  approach 
your  gates }  England  throws  her  ports  wide 
open  to  the  world,  saying,  with  a  fine  assump- 
tion of  generosity  :  "  You  see  I  love  all  people  so 
much  that  I  allow  them  the  same  privileges  as 
myself,"  which  is  merely  the  modern  equivalent 
of  "Will  you  walk  into  my  parlour,"  because  if 
you  keep  the  outsider  at  arm's  length,  how  are 


*' 


V 

\ 

1h 


ttl 


r     r^ 

1 

hi 

i   ; 

''' 

m 

\i 


86 


The  Unchanging  East. 


you  to  loot  him  ?  And  thus  is  England  wealthy. 
The  restricted  colonies  of  the  French  resemble 
the  Western  family  who  made  a  dollar  a  day  by 
trading  a  jack-knife  around  among  the  members 
thereof,  but  although  each  seemed  to  make  a 
profit  on  the  deal,  there  was  no  more  money  at 
night  in  the  family  than  there  had  been  in  the 
morning.  In  trade  you  must  loot  or  be  looted, 
otherwise  it  is  like  going  to  a  horse-race  and  not 
making  a  bet. 

But  what  seems  to  me  the  chief  element  in 
the  success  of  English  rule  is  that  she  leaves 
small  things  alone.  She  goes  in  for  essentials, 
and  lets  trivialities  take  care  of  themselves.  For 
instance,  if  I  were  Governor  of  Malta,  one  of  the 
very  first  things  I  would  do  would  be  to  melt  up 
about  six  thousand  of  their  church  bells.  But 
England  is  wiser,  she  stands  the  din  and  lets 
them  be.  The  Maltese  actually  enjoy  the  racket. 
When  a  Maltese  man  wishes  to  indulge  in  a 
quiet,  peaceful  after-dinner  cigarette  he  goes  to 
a  street-crossing  where  there  are  four  churches 
within  a  few  yards  of  each  other,  each  church 
having  from  sixteen  to  thirty-two  bells,  all  tunv 
differently,  and  all  clashing  at  the  one  time,  as 
if  one  church  were  trying  to  drown  out  the 


^h 


^\ 


The   Unchanging  East. 


87 


;ut 


:et. 

a 

to 


as 
Ithe 


other,  "with  a  clang  and  clash  and  roar,  what 
a  horrible  outpour  on  the  bosom  of  the  palpi- 
tating air  !  "  The  English  curse  the  bells,  but 
never  interfere  with  them. 

I  remember  once  in  my  oversea  wanderings 
being  landed  upon  the  island  of  Jersey.  Be- 
coming interested  in  the  history  of  the  place,  I 
searched  round  the  town  for  a  public  library. 
Being  told  it  was  in  the  public  square,  and  not 
finding  it  there,  I  asked  a  labouring  man  if  he 
could  tell  me  where  the  town  library  was. 

"I  don't  wonder  at  you  asking,"  he  said, 
crossly,  "because  what  sensible  man  could  be 
expected  to  understand  such  lingo  as  that  up 
there  ? "  He  pointed  to  a  large  building  which 
I  had  not  noticed,  where,  carved  in  the  stone, 
under  the  cornice,  were  the  words,  "  Bibliotheque 
Publique." 

**Now,"  continued  the  workman,  who  quite 
evidently  had  a  grievance  against  the  govern- 
ment of  the  island,  "will  you  tell  me  whether 
England  owns  this  place  or  not  ? " 

"There  is  no  question  about  that,"  I  replied. 
"She  does." 

"Then  what  does  she  mean  by  allowing  a 
sign  like  that  to  be  put  up  ?     If  this  place  be- 


»( 


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IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  {MT-3) 


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Ui  1^    12.2 


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88 


The   Unchanging  East. 


longs  to  England,  isn't  the  English  language 
good  enough  for  her  ?  If  that's  a  public  library, 
why  not  say  so,  instead  of  sticking  up  foolish 
French  words  which  mean  nothing  ?  " 

Now,  I  think  that,  quite  unconsciously  and 
quite  unappreciatively,  the  workman  had  touched 
on  one  of  the  secrets  of  success  in  English  rule. 
England  leaves  to  the  people  she  governs  "  the 
little  things  they  care  about,"  and  thus  her  rule 
is  a  success. 

Malta  has  an  opera-house  which  the  islanders 
assert  is  the  handsomest  structure  of  its  kind  in 
the  world,  and  I  am  not  sure  but  they  are  right 
although  the  Paris  Opera  House  takes  a  lot  of 
beating,  and  the  one  at  Vienna  has  points  of 
merit.  What  struck  me  as  one  of  the  chief 
marks  of  architectural  beauty  about  the  Valetta 
Opera  House  is  that  the  dress  seats  cost  only 
seventy-five  cents,  about  one-third  of  the  London 
price  for  similar  seats.  I  saw  the  ruling  class 
of  Malta  pour  into  the  opera-house  in  great  num- 
bers, dress  coats  less  numerous  perhaps  than 
uniforms,  but  even  a  stall  at  such  a  price  did 
not  tempt  me,  for  I  was  having  a  good  deal  of 
opera  outside.  There  is  a  most  enchanting 
caf6   situated   on   a   square,   in   the   centre   of 


mm 


iMB 


inguage 

library, 

foolish 

sly  and 
touched 
sh  rule, 
ns  "the 
lier  rule 

slanders 
kind  in 
re  right 
a  lot  of 
pints  of 
e  chief 
Valetta 
St  only 

ondon 
jg  class 

t  num- 
than 

ce  did 
eal  of 

anting 
re   of 


III 


II 


it 


«; 


A   STREET    IN    MALTA. 


' 


I 

c 

f] 

is 


Kssmmf    ■ 


The  Unchanging  East. 


91 


which  stands  a  marble  statue,  and  at  this  cafd 
various  kinds  of  liquid  refreshment  can  be  ob- 
tained at  the  little  tables  dotted  around  in  front 
of  it,  which,  together  with  the  latest  London 
paper  taken  in  by  the  caf6,  makes  life  worth 
living.  Better  is  liberty  than  a  stalled  ox,  or 
even  an  opera  stall.  Perhaps  the  cheapness  of 
an  opera  stall  is  counterbalanced  by  the  cheap- 
ness of  the  entertainment.  I  don't  know  what 
kind  of  companies  give  performances  there. 

An  Englishman  out  West  encountered  a  Red 
Indian  who  had  quite  evidently  abandoned  the 
warpath  and  the  collection  of  scalps. 

What  do  you  do .? "  asked  the  Englishman. 

Me  preach,"  replied  the  Indian. 

How  much  do  you  make  at  that  ? " 

Me  sometimes  make  shilling,  sometimes  two 
shillings." 

"  That's  damned  poor  pay,"  said  the  English- 
man. 

"  It's  damned  poor  preach,"  replied  the  Indian. 
The  opera  at  Malta  may  be  better  than  the 
preaching  of  the  aborigine,  but  I  don't  thii  k  it 
could  equal  the  free  concert  we  had  in  the  square 
from  a  regimental  band.  And  then  again  tobacco 
is  so  cheap  in  Malta  that  a  conscientious  smoker 


<( 


(( 


(( 


III' 


ym^m 


92 


The  Unchanging  East. 


does  not  care  to  occupy  a  stall  at  the  opera  where 
smoking  is  not  allowed,  because  it  takes  him  all 
his  time  to  consume  the  money  he  sets  aside  for 
daily  indulgence  in  the  nicotine  habit  anyhow. 

The  concert  in  the  square  was  well  worth 
listening  to.  The  band  did  not  play  Wagner  as 
a  military  organisation  in  Germany  would  have 
done,  but  they  gave  us  : 

"  The  tunes  that  mean  so  much  to  you  alone, 

Common  tunes  that  make  you  choke  and  blow  your  nose, 

Vulgar  tunes  that  bring  the  laugh  that  brings  the  groan ; " 

music  that  might  be  played  without  raising  a 
single  emotion  within  a  mile  of  one's  own  hearth- 
stone, yet  strains  which  bring  him  up  with  a  round 
turn  when  he  gets  a  few  thousand  miles  away 
from  home.  Harmony  has  a  habit  of  entwining 
itself  with  incidents  :wd  individuals,  and  it  is 
the  greatest  of  mental  picture  painters.  Who 
does  not  know  some  particular  tune  whose 
chords,  the  moment  heard,  instantly  place  upon 
his  mental  stage  the  figures  of  a  drama  which 
has  been  acted  in  his  past  life  ? 

But  it  was  the  drummer  I  was  about  to  speak 
of  when  I  mentioned  the  band.  He  was  tall 
and  thin  as  a  lamp-post.     I  think  he  must  have 


■HMPI 


■IT, 


The  Unchanging  East. 


93 


IS 
LO 

Ise 
:h 


approached  seven  feet  in  height.  He  had 
strapped  before  him  a  drum  that  in  one  way 
was  as  thin  as  himself,  but  its  circumference 
was  something  marvellous ;  it  looked  like  a 
caricature  in  miniature  of  the  great  wheel  at 
the  World's  Fair.  I  never  knew  before  that 
the  British  army  lent  itself  to  comicality,  but  a 
more  amazing  performance  than  that  drummer 
gave  us,  I  have  rarely  seen  on  any  stage.  Dur- 
ing the  first  part  of  the  concert  he  drummed 
with  admirable  reticence,  giving  us  no  hint  of 
the  gymnastics  that  were  to  follow.  It  was  the 
ordinary  Thursday  performance  at  the  Crystal 
Palace,  to  be  ended  by  fireworks.  The  man 
was  so  thin,  and  his  arms  were  so  long,  that  I 
think  each  of  them  could  have  easily  doubled 
around  his  body  twice.  Anyhow,  he  took  a  few 
loops  out  of  himself,  and  giving  a  preliminary 
flourish  of  his  hands,  proceeded  to  show  us 
what  might  be  done  with  two  sticks  and  a 
drum.  All  thought  of  the  music  was  lost  as 
we  watched  this  man  acting  like  a  windmill  in 
a  hurricane,  struck  by  lightning.  H^  crossed 
his  arms  above  his  head  and  drummed,  he  struck 
at  the  helpless  instrument  behind  his  back,  first 
on  one  side,  then  on  the  other,  finally  on  both 


1^1 

I. 


94 


The  Unchanging  East. 


iiM 


«»l 


I 


..ill 


1  !;i 


sides  at  once.  His  motions,  like  the  flicker  of 
a  whirling  firebrand,  dazzled  the  eye.  He  would 
fling  his  right  arm  around  under  his  left  arm  and 
smite  the  drum  that  way,  while  his  left  arm  was 
creeping  around  the  back  of  his  neck  and  hitting 
the  other  disc.  Then  he  would  suddenly  re- 
verse the  performance,  all  the  while  keeping 
the  most  perfect  time,  the  great  full-moon  face 
of  the  drum  seeming  the  picture  of  amazement, 
never  knowing  where  it  was  going  to  be  hit 
next.  I  expected  the  man  would  tie  himself  up 
in  a  hard  knot,  and  that  the  regiment  would 
have  to  lay  him  out  on  his  back  in  the  square 
and  unravel  him  when  the  performance  was 
over.  If  this  man  had  been  sent  up  the  Nile 
with  his  drum  the  dervishes  would  never  have 
stopped  running  from  Omdurman  to  the  equa- 
tor. 

The  principal  sight  of  Malta  is  the  Church  of 
St.  John,  but  people  don't  go  there  so  much  to 
see  the  church  as  to  hear  the  description  by  the 
sacristan  who  takes  you  through.  This  man 
can  describe  the  Church  of  St.  John  in  forty- 
four  languages  and  dialects.  He  only  under- 
stands one  of  these  languages,  and  he  has  the 
others  entirely  by  rote.     If  you  give  him  a  hint 


!1 


I 


er  of 

vould 

nand 

a  was 

litting 

ily  re- 

eeping 

►n  face 

ement, 

be  hit 

iself  up 

:  would 
square 

ice   was 

he  Nile 
er  have 
,e  equa- 

lurch  of 
jmuch  to 
by  the 
Ihis  man 
jin  forty- 
under- 
has  the 
[m  a  hint 


III' 

J!       ij 

,1       ^i 


CHURCH    OV   ST.   JOHN,    MALTA. 


•^i^ 


It  I 

It 


t 
t 
t 

r 


The  Unchanging  East. 


97 


as  to  your  nationality,  and  start  him  fairly  at  the 
door  of  the  church  and  don't  interrupt,  he  will 
bring  you  through  every  chapel,  past  every 
tomb,  round  by  each  altar,  and  give  you  a  per- 
fect description  in  your  own  language  of  all  the 
saints ;  but  if  you  break  in  upon  him  and  say : 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  but  did  you  mention 
that  Michael  Angelo  was  the  painter  of  that 
picture  in  the  knight's  hall  ? "  then  the  man  is 
lost,  and  he  looks  at  you  in  the  most  reproach- 
ful way,  as  if  you  were  deliberately  taking  an 
unfair  advantage  of  him.  He  has  his  rigmarole 
punctuated  by  certain  pillars  and  certain  chapels. 
These  form,  as  it  were,  the  chapter  heads  of  his 
lecture,  and  if  you  take  him  to  the  door  of  any 
particular  chapel  he  can  begin  his  conversational 
explanation  all  right,  but  as  to  questioning  him 
between  any  of  two  points,  you  might  as  well 
ask  the  trapeze  artist  to  pause  between  the  bar 
he  was  swinging  from  and  the  one  he  was  about 
to  clutch.  By  judiciously  interrupting  this  care- 
taker, you  will  have  far  more  than  the  worth  of 
the  quarter  he  charges  you  by  the  time  you  get 
round  the  church. 


'I 


f'1 


it| 


•.ii 


CHAPTER   V. 

Impressions  of  Alexandra  —  The  Coinage  and  the  Sphinx  — 
Tommy's  Recreation  —  The  American  Occupation  — 
Cyprus. 

ENGLAND  is  the  modern  possessor  of  the 
seven-league  boots.  She  has  acquired 
for  herself  stepping-stones  over  all  the  seven 
seas.  She  steps  from  her  own  home  island  to 
Gibraltar,  Gibraltar  to  Malta,  Malta  to  Alex- 
andra, Alexandra  to  Aden,  Aden  to  Ceylon, 
Ceylon  to  Singapore,  Singapore  to  Hong  Kong, 
Hong  Kong  to  Vancouver,  Vancouver  to  New- 
foundland, and  from  Newfoundland  back  to 
England  again,  and  this  is  merely  one  route; 
there  are  others. 

We  took  our  seven-league  step  from  Malta 
to  Alexandra,  and  came  upon  this  ancient  city 
in  the  early  afternoon.  The  appearance  of 
Alexandra  reminded  me  of  Buffalo,  New  York, 
as  you  approach  it  from  Lake  Erie.     The  first 

98 


A   WOMAN    OF   ALEXANDRIA. 


Wh 


111 


4l>^f 


The  Unchanging  East.  loi 


i 


thing  that  strikes  a  stranger  on  entering  Alex- 
andra is  the  black  policeman  in  his  white  gloves. 
"Said  England  unto  Pharaoh,  I  must  make  a 
cop  of  you,"  and  marvellously  has  she  done  it. 
There  is  a  quiet  dignity  about  those  Egyptian 
policemen  that  could  not  be  excelled  by  the 
bobbies  on  Piccadilly.  And  the  Egyptian  "  cop- 
per" regulates  the  traffic  at  the  crossings  in 
Alexandra  as  if  he  had  been  educated  at  Man- 
sion House  corner.  The  next  thing  a  stranger 
discovers  in  Alexandra  is  that  he  is  in  financial 
distress.  I  do  not  refer  to  the  expensiveness 
of  the  country,  though  goodness  knows  it  is 
a  dear  place  to  live  in,  but  to  the  currency 
muddle.  If  Mr.  Bryan,  late  presidential  can- 
didate of  the  anti-gold  party  in  the  United 
States,  would  only  come  to  Egypt,  he  would 
find  there  a  silver  question  that  might  well 
stagger  him.  Now  that  the  Soudar  has  been 
recaptured  I  wish  the  Sirdar  would  turn  his 
attention  to  the  currency.  All  the  time  I  was 
in  Egypt  I  had  not  the  slightest  idea  what  I 
was  paying  for  anything.  In  the  first  place,  as 
in  Turkey,  they  have  what  they  humorously 
call  good  money  and  bad  money.  In  Egypt 
the  coins  are  nominated  "  tariff "  and  "  current," 


I02  The  Unchanging  East. 


but  how  they  expect  any  sane  man  to  distin- 
guish between  them  I  am  sure  I  don't  know. 
I  imagine  they  don't  expect  it,  but  playfully 
count  on  getting  rich  through  the  impenetrable- 
ness  of  the  mystery.  The  "  current "  coins  and 
the  "tariff  "  coins  are  of  the  same  denomination, 
but  "  tariff "  coins  are  double  the  value  of  the 
same  coin  "  current."  As  no  coin  has  any 
intelligible  mark  upon  it  by  which  its  value 
may  be  estimated,  all  a  stranger  knows  is  that 
he  is  being  ruined,  without  seeing  exactly  how 
he  is  to  prevent  it.  There  is  on  the  larger 
silver  coins  a  cabalistic  mark,  which  resembles 
an  American  spread  eagle  having  a  fit.  This 
hieroglyphic  nightmare,  they  tell  me,  is  Turk- 
ish, and  means  "  God  save  the  Sultan."  I 
think  I  could  amend  the  phrase  by  substituting 
another  word  for  "  save."  In  order  to  help  out 
the  English-speaking  interloper,  some  traders 
have  issued  a  card  which  contains  fac-similes  of 
the  different  coins.  As  these  reproductions  are 
the  actual  size  of  the  coins  themselves,  you  may, 
by  placing  a  piece  of  money  over  the  card,  and 
slipping  it  from  one  picture  to  another  until  it 
fits,  find  out,  by  reading  in  English  the  legend 
at  the  top,  what  the  value  of  the  coin  is.     It  is 


The  Unchanging  East.  103 


interesting  to  see  a  party  of  tourists  newly 
arrived,  shopping  in  Alexandra  or  Cairo.  They 
cling  despairingly  to  these  cards  and  ask  the 
shopkeeper  kindly  to  point  out  what  particular 
coin  he  wants  for  the  particular  thing  they 
think  of  purchasing.  If  the  coin  selected  seems 
too  large,  the  tourists  shake  their  heads  and 
move  on.  The  shopkeepers  always  exact 
"  tariff  "  coinage  when  you  purchase  an  article, 
invariably,  probably  through  inadvertence,  giving 
you  the  change  in  "currency,"  and  the  unfortu- 
nate victim  does  not  know  the  difference  until 
he  tries  to  palm  off  the  **  currency  "  on  some 
other  shopkee^  '  at  its  face  value.  I  suppose 
England  has  a  big  enough  force  in  Egypt  to 
reform  this  currency  if  she  turned  the  whole 
army  on  the  problem  ;  but  she  leaves  it  alone, 
perhaps  wisely,  because  the  Egyptians  them- 
selves, having  got  the  key  to  the  riddle,  might 
resent  interference  in  the  conundrum  at  which 
they  keep  all  nations  guessing ;  a  riddle  never 
solved  by  the  stranger. 

I  think  myself  that  the  Sphinx  must  have 
had  something  to  do  with  the  coinage.  Perhaps 
the  Sphinx  was  really  the  original  mint,  and  the 
question  it  asked,  which  no  one  could  answer, 


n 


ID4  The  Unchanging  East. 


I 

Lib*    i 


i>i, 


was  — "  Guess  the  value  of  this  coin  ?  "  It 
may  be  that  the  real  reason  the  English  leave 
the  Egyptian  currency  alone  is  because  they 
know  their  own  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence,  and 
half-crowns  and  two-shilling  pieces  are  just  as 
bewildering  to  the  foreigner.  Still,  English 
currency  is  not  complicated  by  having  two  coins 
of  the  same  name  and  size,  one  of  which  is  half 
the  value  of  the  other.  That's  what  adds  pan- 
demonium to  the  natural  perplexities  of  the 
Egyptian  financial  nomenclature. 

I  found  to  my  chagrin  that  I  was  a  little  late 
getting  into  Egypt,  and  regretted  that  I  had 
not  started  sooner  for  that  ancient  country. 
When  I  learned  that  the  pyramids  had  been 
up  two  thousand  years  before  the  first  Pharaoh 
came  to  the  throne,  and  that  the  first  Pharaoh 
did  his  little  share  in  muddling  up  the  coinage 
some  six  thousand  years  before  the  Christian 
era,  I  felt  that  any  remark  I  had  to  make  would 
be  considered  too  late  for  an  up-to-date  daily 
paper.  It  is  discouraging  to  think  how  many 
jokes  there  are  current  to-day  which  originated 
about  eight  thousand  years  before  Pharaoh 
tried  his  own  practical  jest  on  the  Israelites, 
letting  them  go  and  tying  a  string  to  them  so 


PUMI'KY'S    I'lLLAR,    ALF:XANDRIA. 


The  Unchanging  East.  107 

that  he  could  pull  them  back.  Out  West,  when 
a  man  tells  an  ancient  story,  the  assembled 
company  are  apt  to  break  forth  into  song  to 
this  effect : 

In  the  days  of  old  Rameses,  are  you  on  ? 

In  the  days  of  old  Rameses,  are  you  on  ? 

In  the  days  of  old  Rameses  that  story  had  paresis, 

Are  you  on,  are  you  on,  are  you  on  ? 

You  can't  travel  about  in  Egypt  without 
coming  upon  some  ancient  pleasantry  that  has 
been  re-created  and  made  new  in  the  American 
papers.  For  instance,  the  moment  you  land 
at  Alexandra  there  is  Pompey's  pillar.  We  are 
told  it  is  not  called  after  Pompey  the  Great, 
but  after  a  certain  prefect  of  the  same  name  in 
the  time  of  Diocletian.  This  is  quite  evidently 
the  origin  of  the  saying  that  the  plays  were  not 
written  by  Shakespeare,  but  by  another  man 
of  the  same  name. 

Cairo  is  the  Chicago  of  the  East.  It  is  an 
upstart  modern  town,  scarcely  a  thousand  years 
old.  Some  of  the  inhabitants  tell  you  that 
their  great  great  great  ancestors  might  have 
bought  Cairo  for  a  pair  of  sandals  at  one  time, 
but  neglected  to  do  it.     The  English  occupa- 


1  ! 

I     t 
'     I 


I;' 


io8  The  Unchanging  East. 

tion  does  not  seem  to  ha /e  added  any  ancient 
flavour  to  the  place.  When  the  soldiers  get  an 
afternoon  off,  they  delight  in  hiring  a  iwo-horse 
carriage,  which  they  pack  with  as  many  of  them- 
selves as  it  will  hold,  and  drive  at  a  great  pace 
through  the  narrow,  crooked  streets  of  old 
Cairo,  scattering  the  foot-passengers  about,  and 
singing  quite  appropriately  at  the  top  of  their 
voices,  "  Knocked  'em  in  the  Old  Kent  Road.'* 
An  exceedingly  modern  narrow-gauge  rail- 
way has  been  constructed  on  the  Nile  side  of 
the  highway  from  Cairo  to  the  pyramids,  and 
by  and  by  they  expect  to  have  an  elevator  up 
the  centre  of  the  great  pyramid  to  the  top,  with, 
probably,  an  aerial  wire  contrivance  suspended 
from  one  summit  to  another.  One  thing,  how- 
ever, that  never  changes,  and  has  been  com- 
plained of  by  travellers  since  the  time  of 
Pharaoh,  and  doubtless,  if  we  only  knew  it, 
was  the  cause  of  the  departure  of  the  Israelites 
from  Egypt,  for  they  are  the  people  who  like 
to  get  value  for  their  money,  is  the  clamorous 
exactions  of  the  Arabs  around  the  foot  of  the 
pyramids  and  the  Sphinx.  Pharaoh,  powerful 
as  he  was,  made  no  impression  on  these 
brigands,  but  Mark  Twain  did.     Every  tattered 


'ffl 


M 


I 


CLIMBING   THE    PYRAMIDS. 


The  Unchanging  East.  iii 

villain  who  has  a  camel  to  let  and  wants  you 
to  ride  on  it  at  any  price  from  ten  cents  to  a 
dollar,  cries  to  you,  "  He  Marky  Twain ;  he 
Marky  Twain ;  this  camel  he  Marky  Twain.** 
As  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the  veracity 
of  these  people,  Mark  Twain  must  have  put  in 
about  six  months  riding  around  the  pyramids, 
on  every  camel,  old  and  young,  in  the  desert. 

I  don't  see  that  the  English  can  leave  Egypt 
for  a  long  time  to  come,  because  there  are 
many  impositions  to  rectify.  For  instance,  the 
ancient  sheik,  who  pretends  to  have  a  claim  on 
the  pyramids,  charges  people  fifty  cents  for  the 
right  to  ascend,  whereas  he  ought  to  be  made 
to  pay  that  much  at  least  to  the  visitor  who  is 
foolish  enough  to  try  the  climb.  What  is 
needed  at  the  base  of  the  pyramids  is  a  Maxim 
gun  in  a  state  of  eruption  accurately  aimed  at 
these  savage  pirates.  The  Mahdi  was  an  c  Ticer 
and  a  gentleman  compared  with  them.  Still 
it  is  a  great  pleasure  to  visit  the  pyramids,  and 
lie  down  in  the  warm  sand  to  look  at  them, 
allowing  these  tattered  Arabian  knights  to 
waste  their  time  and  their  breath  in  trying  to 
get  you  to  do  things  which  you  absolutely 
refuse  to  do  ;  neither  going  up  the  pyramids 


ih! 


Is 


112  The  Unchanging  East. 


U. 


3    I 


f 


on  the  outside,  nor  down  to  the  vaults  in  the 
inside. 

Besides  the  EngHsh  occupation  in  Egypt, 
there  is  also  the  American  occupation.  The 
American  occupation  consists  in  mixing  weird 
American  drinks,  and  the  American  who  thus 
occupies  himself  is  one  of  the  most  deservedly 
popular  men  in  Cairo.  Officers  who  have  sam- 
pled his  decoctions  tell  me  that  he  makes  a 
whiskey  cocktail  with  a  rim  of  crusted  sugar 
around  the  glass  that  does  much  to  mitigate  the 
heat  of  the  climate  in  Cairo. 

One  great  advantage  of  going  to  Egypt  is 
that  a  man  learns  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
Egyptian  tobacco.  They  do  not  seem  to  grow 
tobacco  in  Egypt  at  all,  but  the  factories  make 
up  tobacco  which  comes  from  Turkey  into 
cigarettes  which  they  call  Egyptian,  selling 
these  to  unsophisticated  persons  like  myself  for 
high  prices.  Thus  you  hear  people  say  that 
they  do  not  care  for  Turkish  tobacco,  but  are 
fond  of  the  Egyptian  variety. 

The  only  thing  that  is  cheap  in  Egypt  is 
sand,  and  curiously  enough,  this  is  just  what 
the  Egyptian  troops  lacked  up  to  the  time  of 
the  English  occupation,  and  thus  the  Egyptians 


Lt-N 


The  Unchanging  East.  113 


were  thrashed  by  whosoever  took  the  trouble 
to  send  an  expedition  against  them.  All  this 
is  now  changed,  and  the  Gippies  fight  in  a 
manner  that  would  please  Mulvaney  himself. 
The  Egyptian  troops  are  a  smart-looking  body 
of  men,  and  as  you  see  a  company  of  them 
swinging  through  the  streets  of  Cairo  with  a 
mahogany-coloured  band  at  their  head,  they 
have  all  the  appearance  of  winners.  As  I  stood 
aside  to  let  them  go  by,  the  band  was  gaily  play- 
ing the  "Washington  Post  March,"  the  oldest 
country  in  the  world  pounding  away  at  the 
latest  tune  of  the  newest  one,  all  of  which  goes 
to  show,  as  everybody  says,  that  the  earth  is 
getting  smaller  and  smaller,  for  it  would  be 
hard  to  imagine  ancient  Pharaoh  marching 
toward  the  Red  Sea  to  the  strains  of  "  Yankee 
Doodle." 

We  sailed  north  from  Egypt  to  the  island 
of  Cyprus,  and  sighted  it  early  in  the  morning. 
The  Creole  Prince  had  on  board  a  British  licial 
and  his  family  who  were  returning  to  Cyprus, 
and  intended  landing  at  Baffa,  the  Paphos  of 
ancient  history.  But  where  a  steamer  intends 
to  land  a  passenger,  and  where  that  passenger 
will  actually  land,  is  not  necessarily  the  same 


m 


il 


m   < 


|4 


114  The   Unchanging  East. 

thing  in  this  region.  Many  of  the  islands  of 
the  Mediterranean  have  been  carelessly  con- 
structed so  far  as  harbours  are  concerned.  I 
don't  know  that  I  am  geologically  accurate  in 
stating  that  Malta  was  evidently  the  last  island 
to  be  formed,  because  the  excellency  of  its 
harbour  accommodation  shows  that  the  mis- 
takes made  in  the  architecture  of  other  islands 
taught  a  lesson  in  insular  outline.  The  towns 
on  the  southern  coast  of  Cyprus  have  no  har- 
bours, so  to  speak,  and  a  steamship  must  lie 
off  to  the  open  and  transact  its  business  by 
means  of  small  boats.  As  the  Mediterranean 
in  this  quarter  is  not  always  on  its  good  be- 
havi  ir,  communication  with  the  land  is  not 
without  difficulty.  Arriving  opposite  the  town 
where  the  official  party  hoped  to  disembark,  it 
was  soon  evident  that  no  one  could  get  ashore 
that  day  unless  he  put  on  a  diving  suit  and 
walked  along  the  bottom.  So  the  steamer  was 
compelled  to  skirt  along  the  coast  for  forty 
miles  or  more  until  it  rounded  a  point  which 
gave  some  shelter  from  the  western  wind,  com- 
ing to  anchor  off  Limasol.  Here  with  great 
difficulty  the  party  got  into  the  rising  and 
falling  feluccas  that  had  put  off  for  them  from 


w^ 


ands  of 
ly  con- 
ned.    I 
irate  in 
t  island 
of   its 
be  mis- 
islands 
s  towns 
no  har- 
lust  lie 
less  by 
rranean 
3od  be- 
is   not 
e  town 
Dark,  it 
ashore 
lit  and 
er  was 
forty 
which 
»  corn- 
great 
g   and 
1  from 


tf 


w 


MOORISH    TOWER,    KAM A(;oSTA,    CYPRUS. 


Iff 


The  Unchanging  East.  117 


port.  The  heroine  of  the  occasion  was  the  two- 
year-old  baby,  who  quite  evidently  thought  this 
disembarking  great  fun,  got  up  for  her  special 
benefit,  an  opinion  which  was  not  shared  by  her 
parents. 

We  had  a  pleasing  panorama  all  day  of  the 
island  of  Cyprus,  with  its  lofty  mountain  range 
approaching  at  one  point  seven  thousand  feet 
in  height,  the  low  land  around  the  shore  looking 
for  the  most  part  uncultivated,  houses  or  villages 
being  few  and  far  between.  All  in  all,  Cyprus 
does  not  appear  to  be  a  lucrative  possession  for 
England,  the  only  great  advantage  being  that 
cigarettes  are  passable  and  cheap,  thus  mitigat- 
ing, in  a  measure,  the  loneliness  of  an  enforced 
residence  on  the  island. 

Leaving  Larnaka  at  night,  we  were  off  Bey- 
rout,  the  commercial  capital  of  Syria,,  in  the 
early  morning.  The  squalid  appearance  so  much 
in  evidence  in  most  Eastern  cities  is  here  in- 
visible from  the  sea.  Beyrout  rises  terrace 
above  terrace  from  the  Mediterranean,  occupying 
an  amphitheatre  of  hills  somewhat  after  the 
fashion  of  Genoa.  The  houses  are,  for  the 
most  part,  light  in  tint,  with  tiled  roofs  of 
the  reddest  colour,  many  of  the  buildings  being 


l! 


)  t 


■  I 


IN 


'■.  t 


ii8  The  Unchanging  East. 

of  imposing  size  and  admirable  architecture, 
while  behind  the  city,  the  vivid  green  of  the 
Lebanon  mountains  forms  a  most  picturesque 
background,  capped  with  snow  of  dazzling  white- 
ness ;  a  brilliant  contrast  of  startling  vividness. 
The  picture  is  one  well  qualified  to  be  a  com- 
panion to  that  of  Naples,  the  deep-blue  margin  of 
the  Mediterranean  being  the  foreground  of  each 
striking  panorama.  Even  a  nearer  acquaintance 
does  not  entirely  dissipate  the  charm  that  hangs 
over  Beyrout. 

Here,  for  the  first  time  in  our  trip,  we  came 
under  the  authority  of  the  genial  Turk.  He 
owns  the  town,  although  he  has  done  nothing 
toward  making  the  place  what  it  is.  The 
principal  buildings  have  foreign  proprietors ;  the 
fine  carriage-road  to  Damascus  was  constructed 
over  the  mountains  by  a  French  company ; 
another  French  company  built  the  new  railroad 
which  now  connects  the  two  cities.  Beyrout 
owes  its  water-works,  with  an  aqueduct  nine 
miles  long,  to  English  capital.  All  that  the 
Turk  does  is  to  stand  at  the  gates  and  demand 
tribute,  and  he  gets  it  too.  I  am  told  that  he 
used  to  be  reasonably  civil  in  his  exactions,  but 
since  the  war  with  Greece  the  Turk  is  badly 


iYT\ 


itecture, 
of  the 
uresque 
^  white- 
vidness. 
a  com- 
argin  of 
of  each 
intance 
t  hangs 

e  came 

i.     He 

lothing 

.     The 

rs ;  the 

Tucted 

ipany ; 

ailroad 

eyrout 

:   nine 

the 

mand 

lat  he 

3,  but 

badly 


O 

> 

u 


( 


ti 


\m 


ft  ■ 


ii 


'M 


^\t 


•■} 


The  Unchanging  East.  121 


aflflicted  with  what  is  called  in  the  West  swelled 
head.  He  seems  to  think  that  he  defeated  Eng- 
land at  the  same  time  he  overcame  the  Greeks, 
which  belief  has  perhaps  a  spice  of  truth  in  it. 
Anyhow,  he  is  now  as  arrogant  as  a  successful 
novelist. 

On  landing  at  Bey  rout  there  was  a  rigid  ex- 
amination of  passports,  and  those  of  us  who 
wished  to  travel  in  the  interior  of  Syria  were 
compelled  to  take  out  a  Turkish  document 
called  a  teskeri,  which  is  covered  with  hiero- 
glyphics on  one  side,  while  the  other  side  is 
stamped  and  written  on  by  the  various  officials 
through  whose  hands  it  has  to  pass  until  it 
looks  like  a  war-map  gone  crazy.  Every  time 
an  official  stamps  the  teskeri,  and  bestows  his 
lightning-struck  autograph  upon  it,  there  is  a 
fee  to  be  paid ;  and  if  you  go  from  one  place 
to  another  without  letting  the  officials  know, 
you  are  fined,  with  a  chance  of  getting  into 
prison,  as  well.  At  the  point  of  departure  your 
destination  is  written  on  the  back  of  the  docu- 
ment, and  if  you  go  anywhere  else  you  suffer 
various  pains  and  penalties.  Turkey  makes  no 
allowance  fOx  a  changeable-minded  traveller. 

Turkey  never   makes  a   distinction  between 


^% 


I'?  i 


ill 


1 1 


Ill 


m 


122  The  Unchanging  East. 

an  honest  man  and  a  rogue ;  in  fact,  the  favour 
of  the  officials  seems  rather  to  incline  toward 
the  latter.  They  have  an  admiration  for  a 
man  who  endeavours  to  cheat  them.  Here  is 
the  pathetic  story  of  an  honest  man  and  a  rogue 
who  left  the  steamship  Creole  Prince  with  the 
intention  of  going  to  Damascus  together.  Both 
of  these  individuals  smoked  cigarettes,  and  the 
honest  man  had  bought  a  packet  in  Cairo  which 
numbered  a  hundred  pieces.  The  rogue,  per 
contra^  had  purchased  his  tobacco  in  two-ounce 
packets  in  London,  before  leaving,  not  know- 
ing that  in  Malta  the  same  kind  of  tobacco 
could  be  purchased  for  about  half  the  price. 
The  rogue  allows  himself  two  ounces  of  fine 
Virginia  tobacco  each  day,  which  he  makes  up 
into  cigarettes ;  he  does  not  care  for  Turkish 
tobacco,  and  invariably  declines  to  smoke  it 
unless  compelled  to.  Tobacco  in  Turkey  is 
villainously  dear  and  villainously  bad,  all  that 
is  worth  smoking  being  exported,  and  the  Turk, 
having  the  traveller  at  his  mercy  within  the 
Sultan's  dominions,  compels  him  to  pay  high 
prices  and  put  up  with  an  inferior  class  of 
goods.  At  a  Turkish  port  it  is  not  a  question 
of  paying   duty  and  getting   in  what  tobacco 


The  Unchanging  East.  123 


you  prefer,  for  the  Turk  does  not  allow  the 
importation  of  foreign  tobacco  in  any  circum- 
stances whatever.  The  rogue,  learning  this, 
determined  to  smuggle  sufficient  Virginia  to- 
bacco to  last  him  as  far  as  Damascus  and 
back,  with  a  surplus  to  be  used  in  that  ancient 
city.  The  honest  man  took  with  him  his  hun- 
dred cigarettes,  but  had  no  intention  jf  smug- 
gling. '  hen  the  two  landed  in  a  small  boat 
on  the  quay  at  Beyrout,  on  which  is  situated 
the  custom-house,  it  was  raining  heavily  and 
each  was  enveloped  down  to  the  heels  in  long 
waterproof  coats,  which  assist  in  the  conceal- 
ing of  tobacco,  stowed  away  in  an  every-day 
suit. 

Asked  by  the  Turkish  customs  official 
whether  he  had  any  tobacco  or  not,  the  honest 
man  replied  that  he  had  a  hundred  cigarettes, 
whereupon  he  opened  his  handbag  and  pro- 
duced the  packet.  The  officer  took  the  box 
of  cigarettes,  made  a  thorough  search  of  the 
honest  man's  effects,  found  nothing  more,  and 
so  turned  to  the  rogue. 

"  Have  you  any  tobacco  ?"  he  asked. 

"No,"  replied  the  rogue,  "I  don't  smoke." 

"  Any  cigarettes  or  cigars  ?  " 


11- 


!  ri 


i 


{III 
Jill 

Jill 


if 

W' 


mi 


124  The  Unchanging  East. 

"  Certainly  not ;  I  loathe  tobacco." 

"Take  off  that  overcoat." 

The  waterproof  being  removed  at  this  com- 
mand, the  Turk  slowly  walked  around  the  man, 
looking  over  him  as  he  did  so,  like  a  critical 
purchaser  who  had  some  intention  of  buying 
the  article,  and  wanted  to  be  sure  he  was  not 
being  cheated.  Coming  close  in  front  of  the 
knave,  who  had  remained  in  one  position  like 
a  marble  statue,  the  Turk  said,  sharply  : 

"Turn  out  this  pocket,"  indicating  the  one 
on  the  right-hand  side  of  the  Norfolk  jacket. 
Immediate  result,  discovery  of  two  two-ounce 
packets  of  Virginia  tobacco.  The  Turk  placed 
them  one  on  top  of  the  other  on  a  table  near  by. 

"  Now  this  pocket,"  he  said ;  two  two-ounce 
packets.  The  breast  pocket,  one  two-ounce 
packet. 

"Unbutton  your  coat;"  the  inside  pocket; 
two  packets. 

"  This  trousers  pocket ;  "  one  packet. 

"  The  other  trousers  pocket ;  "  one  packet. 

"  The  hip  pocket ;  "  three  packets  ;  being 
considered  an  exceptionally  safe  receptacle. 

"  Would  you  like  me  to  undress  ?  "  asked  the 
victim. 


1,^ 


'^  J 


mm 


O 
Pi 

> 

< 
z, 


X 

h 

> 
O 

o 

o 


I 
I 


h 


fi 


■J. 


. 

thi 

V 

1 

fin( 

Pre 
to 

oft 

• 

as 

leas 

the 

whi 

thai 

spot 

pers 

fro\^ 

recil 

tion. 

a  m( 

» 

an  / 

# 

<( 

com( 

•  » 

with 

who 

to  b 

perse 

disco 

f 

i 
I 


The  Unchanging  East.  127 

"No,"  replied  the  Turk;  "this  will  do,  I 
think." 

On  the  table  was  a  pound  and  a  half  of  the 
finest  Virginia,  and  what  follower  of  the 
Prophet  smoked  it,  the  knave  doe  1  not  know 
to  this  day,  for  that  was  the  last  he  ever  saw 
of  this  tobacco.  Being  caught  thus  red-handed, 
as  it  were,  the  rogue  expected  a  fine  of  at 
least  a  thousand  dollars.  Then  the  just  and 
the  unjust  were  haled  into  an  inner  room,  in 
which  sat  an  official  evidently  of  higher  rank 
than  the  expert  individual  v  ho  had  so  infallibly 
spotted  every  ounce  of  tobacco  on  the  rascal's 
person.  The  superior  official  listened  with 
frowning  brow  to  the  tale  of  flagrant  dishonesty 
recited  by  his  subordinate.  After  due  medita- 
tion, he  gave  his  verdict :  Six  mejedehs  each ; 
a  mejedeh  being  a  silver  coin  about  the  size  of 
an  American  silver  dollar,  worth  eighty  cents. 

"  Allah  have  mercy  on  me,  and  the  Prophet 
come  to  my  rescue,**  exclaimed  the  honest  man, 
with  quite  pardonable  indignation.  "Am  I, 
who  at  once  exhibited  my  hundred  cigarettes, 
to  be  treated  the  same  as  a  villain  on  whose 
person  a  concealed  tobacco  warehouse  was 
discovered  ?  '* 


T^ 


P 


128  The  Unchanging  East. 

"  Precisely  the  same,"  repli'^d  the  official. 
"  You  are  not  allowed  to  bring  tobacco  into  this 
country." 

In  fact  both  officers  seemed  to  look  upon  the 
honest  person  as  a  man  of  no  class  whatever, 
who  had  not  given  them  a  run  for  their  money. 
So,  to  the  amazement  of  the  rogue,  they  handed 
him  back  two  packets,  the  covers  of  which  they 
broke,  making  this  bestowal  apparently  as  a 
token  of  admiration  for  the  stalwart  way  in 
which  he  had  lied,  looking  them  straight  in 
the  eyes  as  he  did  so,  contrary  to  the  general 
belief  regarding  a  foresworn  person.  Thinking 
that  perhaps  it  was  as  well  to  treat  both  alike, 
they  offered  the  honest  man  a  few  dozen  of  his 
cigarettes.  He  sternly  refused.  Whereupon 
the  Turk  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  put  them 
back  in  the  packet  again. 

This  true  tale  has  two  sequels,  both  of  which 
contain  some  element  of  humour.  The  honest 
man,  angry  at  his  treatment,  which  he  de- 
nounced as  uncivilised,  as  if  anything  civilised 
was  to  be  expected  of  the  Turk,  refused  to  con- 
tinue his  journey  and  said  he  would  not  set 
foot  again  in  the  Turkish  Empire.  The  rogue 
pointed  out  earnestly  that  if  they  returned  to 


•^mn 


The  Unchanging  East,  129 

the  Creole  Prince  they  would  be  the  laughing- 
stocks  of  the  passengers  for  the  rest  of  the 
voyage.  The  honest  man,  however,  did  not 
fear  the  ridicule  of  his  fellows,  having  in  his 
possession  a  clear  conscience.  Thus  arguing 
they  returned  together  to  the  vessel.  Luckily, 
all  the  passengers  were  ashore,  and  by  this  time 
the  just  anger  of  the  honest  man  had  somewhat 
cooled  down.  He  now  saw  no  reason  for  de- 
nying himself  the  giddy  delights  of  Damascus 
merely  because  he  had  been  treated  unfairly  by 
a  set  of  Turkish  officials.  He  therefore  told 
the  rogue  that  as  there  was  still  time  to  get  the 
train  that  evening,  he  was  willing  to  proceed 
with  the  journey.  Rejoiced  at  this,  the  rogue 
went  down  to  his  stateroom  and  collected 
another  ten  packets  of  tobacco  from  his  ample 
store.  Wearing  knickerbockers  very  baggy  at 
the  knees,  the  rogue  put  live  packets  in  each 
trouser  leg,  and  walked  up  and  down  before  the 
mirror  to  see  if  they  were  noticeable.  He 
turned  all  his  pockets  inside  out,  took  ostenta- 
tiously in  his  hand  the  two  broken  packets  that 
had  been  given  him  by  the  customs,  and  passed 
again  the  rigid  investigator,  who  smiled  genially 
when  he  saw  the  linings  of  the  pockets  dangling 


r.i 


'I  I 


■>^ 


130  The  Unchanging  East. 


!'l 


fi 


1  :'^i 


'hi 

^1 


11 


\ 


outwards.  Thus  did  twenty  ounces  of  prime 
American  tobacco,  more  excellent  than  any- 
thing they  can  grow  in  Turkey,  enter  that 
empire  unespied  by  the  watch-dog  of  the  cus- 
toms, and  the  blue  smoke  thereof  is  probably 
still  hovering  about  the  mountains  of  Lebanon 
and  over  the  ancient  city  of  Damascus. 

The  second  sequel  came  later.  On  returning 
to  Beyroiit  the  honest  man  made  complaint 
regarding  his  treatment  by  the  customs  official. 
This  complaint,  curiously  enough,  did  not  go 
to  any  department  of  the  government,  but  to 
a  private  company  which  owns  the  tobacco 
monopoly  of  Turkey.  The  head  of  this  com- 
pany, stationed  in  Bey  rout,  treated  both  rogue 
and  honest  man  with  a  courtesy  that  was  charm- 
ing. He  sent  down  to  the  wharf  for  the  officer 
who  had  looted  the  two,  and  that  individual 
came  up  with  terror  on  his  countenance.  The 
trembling  man  made  two  statements  which 
were  erroneous.  First  he  said  the  honest  man 
had  threatened  to  strike  him,  whereas  it  was 
the  rogue  who  kindly  offered  to  throw  him  into 
the  harbour.  Then  he  alleged  that  the  fine 
had  been  but  four  mejedehs  each,  so  it  at 
once  became  evident  that,  of  the  nine  dollars 


< 


< 


li 


iv 


I 


The  Unchanging  East.  133 

and  sixty  cents  collected,  three  dollars  and 
twenty  cents  had  been  stolen  by  some  one  con- 
nected with  the  customs.  The  tobacco  and 
the  cigarettes  were  alleged  to  have  been  for- 
warded to  Damascus,  and  so  they  were  not 
returned,  but  the  four  mejedehs  each,  which 
had  come  into  the  possession  of  the  company, 
were  most  politely  given  back  to  the  honest 
man  and  the  rogue  alike. 

It  was  alleged  by  those  who  knew  the  ways 
of  Turkish  officials,  that  both  honest  man  and 
rogue  would  have  some  trouble  in  getting  out  of 
Beyrout,  as  the  customs  collect  both  import  and 
export  duties.  This,  however,  proved  not  to  be 
the  case.  The  customs  man,  for  whom  trouble 
had  been  made,  seemingly  bore  no  resentment, 
and  when  the  rogue  finally  bade  farewell  to 
Beyrout  this  official  smiled  all  over  his  face, 
and  held  out  his  hand  in  comradeship,  as  if  he 
recognised  that  two  scoundrels  had  met,  and 
that,  all  in  all,  the  Western  rogue  had  some- 
what the  better  of  it. 

The  railway  from  Beyrout  to  Damascus, 
seventy  miles  long,  zigzags  up  and  then  down 
the  mountains  of  Lebanon.  It  does  not  take 
the  mountain  straight,  as  do  most  of  the  rail- 


I! 


134  The  Unchanging  East. 


I 


ways  funiculaire  in  Switzerland,  but  runs  angle- 
ways  up  the  side  until  it  comes  to  a  level  spot, 
then  the  train  stands  there  until  the  engine  is 
switched  to  the  other  end  of  the  train,  when  it 
cog-wheels  itself  up  to  another  level,  and  so  on. 
The  top  of  the  pass  is  five  thousand  feet  above 
the  sea-level.  There  are  two  trains  a  day,  one 
in  the  morning  and  one  at  night.  My  com- 
panion and  myself,  with  our  dragoman,  took 
the  night  train,  as  we  desired  to  put  in  a  long 
day  at  Baalbec,  which  is,  with  the  well-known 
exception  of  Mark  Twain's  horse,  the  finest 
ruin  in  Syria.  Equipped  with  the  voluminous 
ignorance  which  I  always  use  when  travelling, 
I  had  supposed  on  leaving  London  that  I  was 
approaching  a  mild  and  balmy  summer  climate. 
I  had  read  all  my  life  of  sunstrokes  and  thirst  in 
the  desert,  but  never  heard  of  anybody  being 
frozen  to  death.  As  no  one  took  interest 
enough  in  me  to  pass  on  a  little  information, 
I  went  up  to  Baalbec  arrayed  in  summer  gar- 
ments. It  was  all  right  when  we  left  Beyrout, 
for  we  were  then  in  the  land  of  palms,  and  our 
train  at  the  beginning  passed  through  groves  of 
orange-trees  laden  with  their  golden  fruit.  A 
warm  rain  was  falling  when  we  drew  out  of  the 


The  Unchanging  East.  135 

station  at  Bey  rout  in  the  pitch  darkness,  but 
before  we  were  many  hours  en  route  white 
patches  were  blown  against  the  window-panes, 
and  the  suddenly  increasing  cold  showed  us  we 
were  approaching  the  Arctic  regions.  Very 
soon  we  had  risen  above  the  region  of  soft 
snow,  and  it  now  beat  against  the  window- 
panes  like  hail,  while  the  crunch  of  the  wheels 
outside  the  car  reminded  me  of  the  noise  a  train 
makes  in  Northern  Canada  in  the  depth  of 
winter.  A  man  learns  much  by  travel,  and  we 
were  now  finding  out  that  the  mountains  of 
Lebanon  toward  their  summits  are  no  place 
for  summer  clothing.  We  were  just  able  to 
crawl  stiffly  out  of  our  carriage  at  Muallakah, 
the  summit  station;  where  at  midnight  we  met 
the  westward  coming  train  from  Damascus. 


Il'jii 
11  ^"^ 


■  ; 


CHAPTER   VI. 

Baalbec,  the  Superb  —  Origin  of  the  City  —  The  Founding 
of  the  First  Water  Company  —  History  Made  on  the 
Spot  —  Temples  Galore  —  The  Historian  of  Baalbec  — 
Some  Interesting  Literary  Extracts  —  The  Tower  of  Babel 
Question  Settled  at  Last. 

BITTERLY  did  I  regret,  during  the  trip, 
that  Baalbec  had  not  been  wiped  off  the 
face  of  the  earth  while  the  earthquakes  were 
about  it.  Snowing  had  ceased,  —  it  was  too 
cold  for  snow,  —  but  a  wild  blizzard  from  the 
north  cavorted  across  the  plains  and  enjoyed  it- 
self riotously,  much  more  than  we  were  doing, 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  we  were  wrapped  up  in 
blankets  and  quilts  kindly  loaned  us  by  the  Arab 
proprietor  of  the  hotel  at  El  Muallakah.  We 
fastened  down  the  curtains  of  the  carriage  and 
expected  every  now  and  then  to  go  off  over  the 
plains  like  a  balloon,  so  fierce  was  the  storm. 
And  yet  they  must  have  some  decent  weather 

in  that  locality,  because  the  principal  industry 

136 


3  Founding 

ide   on  the 

Baalbec  — 

ver  of  Babel 


the  trip, 
d  off  the 
ikes  were 
t  was  too 

from  the 
jnjoyed  it- 
ere  doing, 
)ped  up  in 
\f  the  Arab 
ikah.     We 
irriage  and 
ff  over  the 
the  storm, 
nt  weather 
al  industry 


P3 


CQ 


^ 

U 


< 
In 


r 


The  Unchanging  East.  139 


seemed  to  be  grape-growing.  There  were  no 
fences  or  hedges  around  the  fields,  and  the 
grape-vines  were  trained  along  the  ground,  the 
big  bunches  of  white  fruit  nestling  in  the  sand. 
And  thus  it  comes  about  at  the  hotels  where 
grapes  are  served,  you  see  a  man  who  knows 
the  country  hold  the  bunch  of  grapes  above  a 
bowl,  pouring  water  over  them,  to  remove  some 
at  least  of  the  Syrian  soil  from  the  berry.  Little 
straw  huts  dotted  the  landscape,  in  which  shiv- 
ered the  vineyard  watchers,  armed  with  long 
guns.  These  huts  were  not  big  enough  for 
a  man  to  stand  upright  in,  and  so  the  watchers 
reclined  on  their  stomachs  and  shivered  so  much 
that  their  aim  must  have  been  slightly  unsteady, 
although  we  did  not  test  the  accuracy  of  their 
firing  by  attempting  to  take  in  the  grapes  from 
the  cold.  As  we  approached  the  ancient  city 
the  weather  moderated,  the  sun  came  out,  and 
life  was  worth  living  again.  Baalbec  lies  in 
a  sort  of  cup,  or  rather  a  saucer,  surrounded 
by  high  mountains.  The  broad  valley,  in  the 
centre  of  which  the  ruins  are  situated,  has  a 
reddish  surface,  caused  by  oxide  of  iron  in  the 
soil.  The  origin  of  Baalbec,  like  that  of  Jeames, 
is  wrapped  in  mystery.     It  stands  3,800  above 


)  ,.  ! 


* 

ik. 

i,   = 

i 

^1 


140  The  Unchanging  East. 

the  sea,  says  the  guide-book,  and  4,500  says  the 
encyclopaedia,  but  judging  by  the  weather  it 
was  10,000  feet  high  the  day  we  were  there. 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  do  justice  to  the 
ruins  of  Baalbec.  The  relative  merits  of  the 
ancient  Greek  and  Roman  as  compared  with 
the  modern  Turk  are  here  brought  into  startling 
contrast,  the  magnificent  ruins  on  the  one  hand, 
and  the  squalor  of  the  Turkish  village  of  Baalbec 
on  the  other.  The  government  exacts  eighty 
cents  from  every  one  who  enters  the  ruins,  but 
it  does  absolutely  nothing  to  preserve  them.  A 
miniature  river  of  clear,  sparkling  water  runs 
winding  through  the  place,  turning  here  and 
there  a  small  mill  for  the  grinding  of  corn. 
Insignificant  as  the  stream  is,  if  it  had  not 
been  there,  Baalbec  would  never  have  been 
built. 

As  there  are  extant  no  definite  '^ords  regard- 
ing Baalbec  in  the  early  age*^  leaves  a  man 
a  fair  chance  of  airing  his  .  opinions  on  the 
subject,  without  running  the  risk  of  being  con- 
tradicted. At  this  spot  there  met  and  joined 
two  great  caravan  routes,  one  coming  from 
Damascus,  in  the  south,  and  the  other  from 
Palmyra,  to  the  east.     From  this  point  west- 


The  Unchanging  East.  141 

ward  the  two  caravan  routes  were  identical  until 
the  Mediterranean  Sea  was  reached  at  Tripoli. 
Whether  going  east  or  west  the  great  necessity 
for  a  caravan  was  water.  The  caravans  from 
Damascus  would  not  be  so  badly  off  for  the 
fluid,  because  they  came  to  this  place  through 
ravines,  down  which  streams  flowed  from  the 
mountains,  but  the  caravans  from  Palmyra  could 
meet  no  water-supply  from  the  time  they  left 
that  city  until  they  came  within  sound  of  Ras 
el  Ain,  for  so  Baalbec*s  stream  is  named.  Then, 
again,  the  caravans  from  Palmyra  must  have 
been  more  numerous  than  those  from  Damas- 
cus, because  Palmyra  gathered  to  herself  all  the 
caravans  from  Bagdad,  Babylon,  Nineveh,  and 
other  important  centres  of  the  farther  east. 
Palmyra  herself  had  grown  rich  on  supplying 
water,  and  this  city  was  undoubtedly  the  model 
on  which  our  present  water  companies  were 
formed.  The  water  from  the  springs  of  the 
oasis  0x1  which  Palmyra  stood  was  farmed  out 
at  exorbitant  prices  to  thirsty  caravans,  and  any 
man  who  had  a  share  in  the  springs  of  Palmyra 
was  certain  to  become  one  of  the  millionaires  of 
the  town.  Palmyra  honoured  men  who  success- 
fully brought  great  caravans  to  that  city  across 


fm 


A    uh 
Ik       '•' 


t 

i 
i 

i 

J 

; 

1 
1 

( 

142  The  Unchanging  East. 

the  desert  from  the  east,  and  erected  statues  to 
them  along  the  main  thoroughfare,  which  was 
doubtless  the  result  of  gratitude  to  these  cara- 
van captains  for  bringing  victims  to  the  office 
of  the  water-works.  It  must,  then,  have  oc- 
curred to  some  Palmy rian,  wb  had  a  share  in 
the  water  monopoly  or  wished  to  have  one, 
to  head  off  the  caravans  somewhere  else  and 
have  another  chance  of  attracting  tribute  from 
them,  so  I  imagine  a  true  citizen  of  Palmyra 
mounting  his  camel,  going  west  until  he  came 
to  Ras  el  Ain,  and  there  staking  out  a  claim  for 
himself.  I  have  some  hope  that  the  first  cara- 
van which  came  along  massacred  this  individual, 
took  what  water  it  needed  free,  and  passed  on 
to  the  westward,  but  the  history  of  monopoly 
shows  us  that  the  mere  execution  of  one  or  two 
individuals  who  pretend  to  own  the  earth  and 
the  water  thereon,  does  not  in  the  least  retard 
the  growth  of  the  monopoly,  and  doubtless,  if 
one  man  could  not  secure  to  himself  the  waters 
of  this  river,  a  limited  liability  company  did,  and 
thus  began  the  town  of  Baalbec. 

Possibly,  as  the  years  went  on,  the  caravan 
leaders  took  this  exaction  as  belonging  to  the 
natural  order  of  things,  and  the  company  prob- 


statues  to 
which  was 
these  cara- 
)  the  office 
1,  have  oc- 
[  a  share  in 

have  one, 
re  else  and 
ribute  from 
of  Palmyra 
til  he  came 
;  a  claim  for 
le  first  cara- 
Ls  individual, 
1  passed  on 
)i  monopoly 
■  one  or  two 
e  earth  and 
least  retard 
doubtless,  if 
[  the  waters 
any  did,  and 

the  caravan 
ging  to  the 
npany  prob- 


MAUSOLEUM,    PALMYRA. 


I?.-*, 


i,!j 


j» 


«l, 


tmmm 


The  Unchanging  East.  i45 

ably  put  up  a  tank  and  looked  on  itself  as  a 
public  benefactor.  Having  exploited  the  water 
market  for  all  that  it  was  worth,  the  new  town 
of  Baalbec  apparently  grew  and  flourished.  The 
water  bailiffs,  becoming  rich,  doubtless  built  fine 
houses,  and  ultimately  palaces,  and  then  the 
yearning  for  some  other  method  of  depleting 
the  stranger,  in  addition  to  the  water-supply, 
most  naturally  rose  in  their  minds.  ^  should 
surmise  that  first  an  era  of  temple  building 
began.  These  water-works  people  must  have 
seen  that  nothing  is  so  universal  as  religion,  and 
perhaps  it  struck  somebody  that  it  would  not  be 
a  bad  idea  to  make  Baalbac  a  sort  of  cosmopol- 
itan city  of  worship.  The  magnificent  temple 
of  the  Sun,  standing  next  door  to  an  almost 
equally  magnificent  temple  of  Jupiter,  shows 
that  the  people  of  Baalbec  had  no  bigoted 
notions  with  regard  to  any  particular  kind  of 
religion.  And  as  Baalbec  stood  ready  to  furnish 
water  to  all  comers,  it  may  have  had  equal  will- 
ingness to  cater  to  all  opinions  on  the  subject 
of  religion.  This  idea  is  strengthened  in  my 
mind  by  the  fact  that  the  Druses  were  the  most 
powerful  tribe  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Baalbec, 
as,  indeed,  they  are  to-day.     The  Druses  are  a 


i  I 


]i 


:    5!     :.n 


I) 


r-* 


146  The  Unchanging  East. 

tribe  who  make  no  attempt  to  proselytise  any- 
body else,  and  they  do  not  possess  ambitions 
toward  martyrdom,  for  they  instruct  their  peo- 
ple to  conform  with  any  religion  amongst  which 
they  may  find  themselves,  each,  however,  remain- 
ing true  in  his  heart  to  his  own  faith.  Now  a 
water  monopolist  would  naturally  have  no  relig- 
ion of  his  own,  and  being  free  also  from  the 
trammels  of  conscience,  it  might  have  occurred 
to  him  that  it  wouldn't  be  a  bad  idea  to  erect 
temples  in  Baalbec  for  every  kind  of  belief  then 
extant,  and  make  the  city,  as  it  were,  a  free-for- 
all  place  of  worship,  no  sect  interfering  with  ' 
any  other  sect,  and  each  sect  having  its  own 
palatial  temple.  As  the  habit  of  the  day  in  all 
other  cities  was  persecution,  the  strongest  relig- 
ious body  in  the  place  oppressing  all  the  rest, 
this  go-as-you-please  idea  in  Baalbec  must  have 
become  very  popular,  and  must  have  attracted 
rich  citizens  from  various  parts  of  the  world, 
who  thereupon  erected  mansions  and  palaces  in 
the  suburbs  of  Baalbec,  and  as  the  climate  is 
delightful  for  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  as 
water  was  plentiful,  and  the  whole  district 
around  fertile,  Baalbec  must  have  been  one 
of  the  most  charming  cities  in  the  world  for 


1 1  %5 


f 


The  Unchanging  East.  147 

residential  purposes.  J  intend  to  offer  this 
contribution  toward  historical  accuracy  to  the 
next  edition  of  the  "  Encyclopaedia  Britannica," 
but  in  case  the  publishers  of  that  work  should 
not  use  it  I  now  give  it  public  expression. 
There  is  this  advantage,  my  statements  cannot 
be  successfully  contradicted  even  by  the  most 
profound  of  Eastern  scholars. 

We  entered  into  Baalbec  through  tunnels  ex- 
tending the  whole  length  of  the  town ;  arched 
tunnels  built  of  rough  stone,  finishe  1  off  in 
some  parts,  and  left  rough  in  others.  There 
are  two  tunnels,  one  under  each  side  of  the  city, 
running  parallel,  with  a  connecting  tunnel  be- 
tween, making  the  whole  form  one  gigantic 
letter  H.  These  subterranean  thoroughfares 
are  thirty  feet  high,  and  thirty-two  feet  wide. 
Archaeologists  have  been  puzzled  to  know' their 
use,  some  guessing  that  they  were  dungeons 
for  the  confinement  of  prisoners ;  others  that 
they  were  barracks  for  the  Roman  soldiers. 
They  were,  however,  no  puzzle  to  me.  I  recog- 
nised them  at  once  as  the  underground  railway 
system  of  Baalbec.  Any  one  who  has  ever 
stood  on  the  platform  at  Gower  Street  Station, 
in  London,  will  find  no  difficulty  in  coming  to 


!^  • 


<:i: 


148  The  Unchanging  East. 

a  conclusion  regarding  the  use  of  these  subter- 
ranean passageways.  Doubtless  the  loops  at 
each  end  have  been  destroyed  by  frequent 
earthquakes,  but,  when  these  were  in  place, 
no  deep-thinking  man  could  hesitate  for  a  mo- 
ment in  pronouncing  this  to  be  the  inner  circle 
railway  of  Baalbec. 

Of  the  magnificent  Temple  of  the  Sun,  six  or 
seven  superb  columns  remain  standing,  and  this 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  Arabs  chopped 
away  the  stone  at  the  base  of  each  column,  as 
a  woodman  cuts  down  a  tree,  in  order  to  make 
bullets  of  the  lead  that  joined  the  stones.  Each 
column  is  seventy-five  feet  high,  and  is  com- 
posed of  three  stones,  the  height,  including 
cornice  with  entablature,  is  eighty-nine  feet, 
therefore  these  six  columns  tower  above  the 
ruined  city,  and  form  a  striking  landmark  for 
a  long  time  before  the  traveller  reaches  Baal- 
bec. The  Temple  of  Jupiter  did  not  fare  so 
badly  as  the  Temple  of  the  Sun.  Its  walls  are 
still  intact,  and  it  is  counted  the  most  perfect 
ruin  to  be  found  in  Syria.  It  was  surrounded 
by  forty-six  columns,  some  of  them  fluted,  and 
nine  of  these  now  remain.  It  is  perhaps  now 
too  late  to  expose  the  imposture  of  the  priests. 


bter- 
3S  at 
luent 
place, 
1  mo- 
circle 

six  or 
id  this 
opped 
cnn,  as 
make 
Each 
5  com- 
:luding 
e  feet, 
ve  the 
rk  for 
,  Baal- 
are  so 
alls  are 
perfect 
ounded 
ed,  and 
Lps  now 
priests, 


w 

PQ 

< 
< 

pa 
S5 

C/3 

M 

X 
H 

b 
O 

a 

Pu 


P 


■^ 


■/ 


II 


i 


:r 


but 
vail 
of 

■ 

peo 
que 
pas 
nes 
a  ti 
ma^ 
scu 
the 
abo 
are 
Frc 
wal 
stal 
mai 
sior 
beli 
ove 
and 
the 
vah 
mai 
( 
bee 


The  Unchanging  East.  151 


but  for  ways  that  are  dark  and  tricks  that  were 
vain,  they  were  certainly  peculiar.  The  statue 
of  Jupiter  in  the  temple  was  consulted  by  the 
people  as  an  oracle,  and  gave  answers  to  their 
questions.  Ruin  has  now  laid  bare  the  secret 
passages  by  which  the  priests  crept  in  the  dark- 
ness under  the  floor  of  the  temple,  up  through 
a  trap-door,  and  into  the  statue  of  Jupiter,  which 
may  account  for  the  replies  of  this  piece  of 
sculpture.  The  largest  building  in  Baalbec  is 
the  Pantheon,  the  temple  of  all  the  gods.  It  is 
about  four  hundred  feet  square,  and  its  walls 
are  still  standing  practically  as  originally  built. 
From  the  number  of  niches  and  recesses  in  the 
walls,  it  seems  to  have  been  enriched  with  many 
statues,  and  doubtless  great  finds  of  valuable 
marble  would  result  if  the  Turks  gave  permis- 
sion to  excavate  the  courts  of  this  temple.-  I 
believe,  however,  that  the  German  Emperor  has 
overcome  the  Sultan's  reluctance  in  this  matter, 
and  that  a  German  society  is  now  digging  up 
the  courts  of  Baalbec.  If  there  is  anything 
valuable  underneath,  I  should  say  that  the  Ger- 
mans are  reasonably  sure  to  find  it. 

One  cannot  but  admire  the  masonry  of  Baal- 
bec.    Mortar  is  nowhere  used,  but  lead  bolts 


'-J 


III 


l;?«    '  ".i 


m  'il 


152  The  Unchanging  East. 


i» 


ii  I 


join  the  stones  together,  which  lead  has  mostly 
been  extracted  by  the  Arabs.  So  perfect  is 
the  workmanship  that  even  where  the  largest 
stones  are  concerned,  the  joints  are  so  per- 
fectly fitted  that  it  is  impossible  to  insert  the 
blade  of  a  penknife  between  any  two  of  the 
stones. 

No  account  of  Baalbec  would  be  complete 
which  did  not  contain  some  mention  of  its  local 
historian.  Michael  M.  Alouf  was  our  guide 
through  the  ruins.  He  is  a  young  man  who 
speaks  English  excellently,  and  has  evidently 
received  a  good  education.  His  father  is  the 
custodian  of  the  ruins  to  whom  the  Turkish 
mejedehs  must  be  paid.  Michael  has  written 
a  history  of  Baalbec  which  can  be  had  in  Eng- 
lish, French,  or  German,  and  the  author  ha? 
received  compliments  for  his  work  from  the 
Soci^t6  de  G^ographie  of  France,  the  American 
Geographical  Society,  and  other  learned  bodies. 
No  English-speaking  person  should  be  without 
this  little  book.  The  author  told  me  that  a 
new  edition  was  about  to  be  published,  and 
that,  as  in  the  present  version  some  inaccura- 
cies had  crept,  he  was  receiving  assistance  in 
the  preparation  of  the  new  volume  from  a  native 


The  Unchanging  East.  153 

Englishman.  I  cannot  help  thinking  this  is  a 
pity,  because  the  volume  now  in  my  possession 
is  something  too  precious  to  be  parted  with.  We 
like  the  signatures  of  autiors  on  their  books, 
and  any  one  who  gets  a  copy  of  the  earlier  edi- 
tion, will  get  the  autograph  of  the  writer  of  it, 
because  the  book  has  been  set  up  in  Beyrout 
by  people  who  evidently  knew  nothing  of  the 
English  language,  and  so  Mr.  Alouf  has,  with 
his  own  hand,  made  various  corrections,  which, 
while  perhaps  adding  to  the  clarity  of  the 
language,  certainly  detract  from  its  humour. 
For  instance,  on  page  26,  the  unrevised  ver- 
sion, speaking  of  Elijah,  said:  "This  con- 
founded prophet  came  to  Baalbec,"  but  the 
amended  edition  tells  us  that  "this  prophet 
came  to  Baalbec  and  confounded  the  priests 
of  Baal,"  which,  while  more  complimentary  to 
the  prophet,  certainly  lacks  the  spice  of  the 
sentence  as  first  printed.  But  no  phrase  of 
mine  will  do  so  much  to  induce  the  reader  to 
appreciate  this  book  as  extracts  from  it.  In  con- 
cluding his  preface,  Mr.  Alouf  says  :  "  For  fear 
that  my  history  would  annoy  the  readers,  I 
have  tried  to  make  it  as  short  as  possible, 
but  at  the  same  time  interesting.     But,  at  any 


I 

I 


ll 


"I 


u 


m  I 


154  The  Unchanging  East. 

rate,  the  reader,  who  knows  my  goodwill,  will 
excuse,  I  hope,  my  young  age  of  twenty  years, 
and  the  difficulties  which  I  had  to  overcome  in 
writing  in  a  language,  though  very  dear  to  us, 
yet  a  foreign  one." 

Describing  the  route  to  the  cedars  of  Leb- 
anon, he  says :  "  At  5  minutes  to  the  north 
of  that  village  flows  an  abundant,  delicious 
fountain,  that  refreshes  the  thirsty  traveller 
who  was  so  much  troubled  by  the  long  way. 
The  road  which  he  crossed  after  leaving  Ainata 
is  hard  acclivity  in  form  of  a  zigzag ;  every  now 
and  then,  however,  he  meets  with  pleasant  and 
picturesque  objects  that  repair  and  indemnify 
his  fcrces." 

After  the  traveller  has  used  up  some  more 
of  his  forces  in  climbing  a  mountain,  Mr.  Alouf 
thus  graphically  describes  the  view :  "  From 
that  high  place  to  the  east  you  can  discover 
Baalbec  in  its  charming  position,  like  a  queen 
sitting  honourably  and  quietly  on  its  beautiful 
and  green  throne."  And  on  reaching  the  top, 
where  a  glimpse  of  the  Mediterranean  is  to  be 
had,  he  says :  "  The  scenery  is  delightful  and 
enchanting.  The  sea  from  far  looks  like  a 
vast   beautiful  prairie,  and  Besherri,  with  the 


CEDARS   OF   LEBANON. 


,1 


i; 


J 


■7' 


!il 


The  Unchanging  East.  157 

mountains  that  surround  it  from  all  directions, 
made  the  view  so  nice.** 

He  thus  describes  the  cedars  themselves : 
**  Its  wood  is  very  strong,  and  has  a  deal  of 
tar ;  its  smell  is  fragrant,  and  neither  can  the 
moth  gnaw  it,  nor  dampness  injure  it.  .  . 
The  Bible  boasts  in  its  lumber,  elevation,  gran- 
deur, and  utility  for  the  masts,  building,  and 
statues."  He  touches  lightly  on  the  idolatry 
in  the  Temple  of  Venus  as  "  the  *  pleasure  * 
which  caused  among  the  inhabitants  much 
superstition  and  effemination.'* 

Returning  again  to  the  cedars  of  Lebanon, 
Mr.  Alouf  says :  "  David  and  Solomen  used 
it,  the  first  for  his  palace,  and  the  other  for 
the  temple  of  Jerusalem.  Zerubbable  used  it 
also  in  building  the  second  temple.  The  his- 
torian Josephus  says  that  Herod  the  Great 
used  it  in  building  the  temple  he  erected. 
Even  the  cross  of  our  Saviour  is  thought  to 
have  been  of  this  wood ;  a  fact  that  shows  us 
enough  its  honour.  Others  say  also  that  the 
roof  of  the  church  of  Resurrection  in  Jeru- 
salem, and  that  of  the  house  of  the  Holy 
Virgin  have  of  the  cedar  wood.  When  :5olo- 
mon  intended  to  build  a  temple  to  the  Lord, 


''ij 


li 


158  The  Unchanging  East. 


I 

I 


;     I 


' 


Hiram,  king  6f  Tyre,  made  many  rafts  of  the 
cedar  wood,  which  he  attached  to  the  vessel 
and  sent  them  to  the  king  to  Jerusalem. 
There  were  then  many  forests  of  it  in  Leba- 
non, and  Solomon,  availing  himself  of  that, 
sent  80,000  men  to  bring  for  him  cedar  wood 
from  there.  But  now  there  are  only  five 
forests,  the  greatest  and  most  beautiful  of 
which  is  found  near  Becheri,  of  which  we 
are  speaking  now. 

"  It  contains  more  than  40G  trees,  of  which 
12  are  the  greatest,  and  the  oldest,  while  all 
the  others  are  much  smaller. 

"  Mr.  Graham,  the  famous  traveller,  measured 
the  extent  of  the  shade  which  the  branches 
of  every  one  of  21  trees  cast  forward,  and  con- 
cluded that  their  diameters  are  from  22  to  40 
feet.  The  circumference  of  the  largest  is  20 
feet.  People  visit  them  from  all  parts  of  the 
world,  from  Asia  as  well  as  from  Europe  and 
America.  There  they  contemplate  things  which 
are  worthy  to  rejoice  the  sight  and  charm  the 
eye.  The  Christians  of  the  East  consider  this 
forest  as  a  holy  place,  and  that  is  why  they 
erected  there  a  small  church. 

"The  traveller  is   always  anxious  to   know 


:^    I 


KA 


The  Unchanging  East.  159 

new  ways  and  other  paths  to  return  to  Baal- 
beck  than  those  by  which  he  has  come.  He 
has  first  to  pass  the  valley  of  Ainata  by  the 
west  side ;  after  an  hour  he  gets  to  Yammouni 
that  has  its  nices  position  near  a  little  lake. 
Many  fountain  flow  froem  there  abundantly. 
The  inhabitants  say  that  Yammouni  has  forty 
fountains  as  an  emblem  of  the  forty  martyrs 
who  were  killed  in  that  village,  as  they  sup- 
pose. The  great  fountain  is  to  the  west  side 
of  the  village ;  it  flows  from  the  height  of  a 
mountain,  and  forms  a  magnificent  water-fall, 
and  flows  down  raoring  to  a  far  distance,  and 
turns  many  mill-stones.  In  Autumn  the  its 
water,  lake  loses  one  quarter  of  but  in  Sum- 
mer and  Spring  it  overflows  to  its  enormous 
bulk." 

Mr.  Alouf  tells  some  stories  in  his  volume 
which  are  exceedingly  interesting.  Here  is 
one  about  the  ambassador's  pigeons,  which 
struck  me  as  very  ingenious,  so  much  so  that 
I  stole  it,  and  then  sold  the  looted  goods  to 
magazines  in  America  and  England  for  enough 
money  to  pay  my  expenses  to  Baalbec  and 
back.  Thus  do  unscrupulous,  so-called  authors 
make  one  hand  wash  the  other.     Like  all  pla- 


i6o  The  Unchanging  East. 


"1 


111    II J 


'•f  i ' 


' 


giarists,  I  carefully  concealed  the  fact  that  I  got 
the  germ  of  the  story  from  Michael  M.  Alouf, 
but  now,  when  it  is  too  late  for  him  to  get  out 
an  injunction  against  me,  I  cheerfully  acknowl- 
edge the  source  of  my  alleged  inspiration. 
Here,  then,  is  the  real  story  of  the  pigeons  : 

"  Soon  Ismail  prince  of  Baalbek  intended  to 
have  possession  of  Damascus  in  1,238 ;  he  began 
then  to  have  his  preparations  for  war.  Damas- 
cus had  then  Omar  son  of  king  Ayoub  the  young 
nephew  of  Ismail  as  a  governor  ;  Ayoub  who 
was  then  at  Naboulus,  knew  secretly  his  uncle's 
intention,  he  then  sent  to  Baalbek  a  phisicien, 
called  Saadeddin  in  whom  he  had  full  confi- 
dence with  some  pigeons,  which  were  then 
used  to  convey  the  news,  to  let  him  know  all 
what  he  could  discover.  Ismail  knew  the  mo- 
tives that  brought  this  phisicien  to  come  and 
visit  him,  he  invited  him  and  shewed  him  much 
friendship  and  kindness,  then  stole  from  him 
the  pigeons  of  Naboulus,  and  put  other  pigeons 
instead  c  them.  The  phisicen  did  not  per- 
ceive the  fraud  thinking  that  these  pigeons 
were  the  same  ones  he  brought  with  him,  he 
wrote  to  Ayoub  and  told  him  that  *  your  uncle 
Ismail  is  gathering  his  army  and  getting  ready 


m 


Lt  I  got 

Alouf, 
get  out 
:knowl- 
iration. 
IS  : 

ided  to 
i  began 
Damas- 
i young 
lb  who 
uncle's 
lisicien, 
[  confi- 
e  then 
low  all 
e  mo- 
e  and 
1  much 
m  him 
)igeons 
ot  per- 
)igeons 
im,  he 
uncle 
ready 


: 


u 

pa 


n 


Ed 


u 


'  I 


II  il 


mn    : 


I  ^ 


I 


The  Unchanging  East.  163 

to  walk  against  Damascus,  thereupon  he  tied 
the  letter  to  one  of  its  doves  and  let  it  fly  away 
it  flew  for  some  time  in  the  sky  and  came  back 
to  the  city  with  the  letters  which  so  to  speak 
Ismail  intercepted.'  Then  Ismail  wrote  false 
letters  by  the  name  of  the  phisicien  in  which 
hf.  told  Ayoub  that  *  your  uncle  Ismail  is  gath- 
ering his  army  to  come  to  your  help  and  fight 
against  your  enemies,  he  then  sent  it  with  the 
pigeons  of  Naboulus.'  So  Ismafl  could  con- 
veniently finish  all  his  preparations,  and  walk 
with  Shirkoh,  prince  of  Homs  against  Damas- 
cus, they  attacked  it,  and  besieged  its  fortress, 
which  Omar  son  of  Ayoub  was  defending. 
When  Ayoub  heard  of  this  news,  he  felt  sorry 
for  the  loss  of  time  and  soon  walked  with  his 
army  toward  Damascus  to  help  his  son,  but 
on  his  way  he  heard  that  Damascus  was  taken, 
and  his  son  was  defeated  so  he  went  back 
home." 

Baalbec  has  had  to  suffer  much  from  inva- 
sions, and  also  from  earthquakes  and  even 
floods,  which  seems  strange  in  such  a  drj' 
countrv.  Mr.  Alouf  graphically  gives  an  ac- 
count of  one  of  these  inundations,  which  must 
have  been  similar  to  the  disaster  which,  I  have 


<ll 


'  I 


p    II 


164  The  Unchanging  East. 

taken  for  granted,  caused  the  building  of  the 
Tower  of  Babel. 

<*  In  May  loth  1,318,  an  itnpeteous  flood  com- 
ing from  the  east  overwhelmed  the  city  and 
destroyed  it.  It  was  then  divided  into  two 
torrents ;  the  first  one  coming  from  the  east 
wind  rushed  down  against  the  ramparts  which 
in  vain  tried  to  pull  down.,  but  passed  them  on  ; 
the  other  one  that  was  stronger,  coming  from 
the  north-east  concentrated  fully  on  a  part  of  the 
ramparts,  made  a  hole  of  about  30  yds,  its 
depth  was  then  4  yds,  it  carried  away  a  tower 
of  12  yards  square  sound  and  safe  to  a  dis- 
tance of  400  yards,  as  some  historiens  say. 
The  water  filled  the  city ;  1,500  houses  were 
ruined  including  the  great  mosque,  131  shops, 
44  orchards,  13  schools,  17  furnaces,  4  aque- 
ducts and  1 1  mills.  The  number  of  people 
who  died  in  that  calamit}'^  was  194. 

"Tamelan  (Timour-lank)  the  Tartar,  after 
his  coming  to  Aleppo  with  his  infernal  terror 
went  to  Damascus  passing  by  Baalbek  in  1,401. 
It  was  in  vain  that  its  inhabitants  presented 
themselves  before  him  begging  to  spare  their 
city ;  but  Tamerlan  listened  to  no  one  he  sent 
there  bis  army,  plundered  it  completely.      In 


T^1 


The  Unchanging  East.  165 

1,516  when  the  ottoman  sultan  Selim  I  took 
possession  of  Syria,  Baalbek  at  that  time  was 
subdued  to  him  also." 

Mr.  Ruskin  wrote  learnedly  about  the  stones 
of  Venice,  but  they  are  nothing  in  size  to  the 
stones  of  Baalbec.  The  great  stone  in  the  quarry 
just  outside  the  city  is  seventy-two  feet  long, 
fourteen  feet  wide,  and  fifteen  feet  high.  A  man 
has  little  idea  of  the  weight  of  this  block  until 
he  tries  to  lift  it.  I  doubt  if  we  have  any 
modern  tackle  that  would  stand  the  strain,  and 
it  would  take  the  combined  strength  of  forty 
thousand  men  to  move  the  block  with  such 
tackle,  if  we  had  it.  In  the  ancient  walls  of 
the  city  are  several  other  stones  only  slightly 
smaller  than  this  one  in  the  quarry.  The  ques- 
tion that  naturally  presents  itself  to  the  investi- 
gating mind  on  viewing  this  monolith,  is  how 
did  the  aiicients  transport  it  from  quarry  to 
wall  ?  The  solution  generally  preferred  by 
scientists  is  that  an  inclined  plane  and  stone 
rollers  were  used.  If  this  were  the  case,  a 
strong  causeway  of  stone,  or  some  such  hard 
and  durable  material,  must  have  extended  from 
the  quarry  to  the  city,  otherwise  the  roller 
would   have   sunk   in  the   earth ;   but   of    this 


■t 


I     ! 
I     5 


I'* 

"J 


.f\ 


!  ll 


i66  The  Unchanging  East. 

causeway  no  trace  remains,  therefore  it  seems 
unlikely  that  it  was  ever  built,  for,  with  the 
more  delicate  tracery  of  the  pillars  practically 
perfect  after  all  these  years,  the  remains  of  this 
stoutly  built  roadway  would  surely  have  been 
discoverable  to-day.  My  own  theory  is  that 
those  great  builders  knew  much  more  about 
science  than  we  do.  For  many  centuries  we 
have  merely  been  rediscovering  what  China 
knew  thousands  of  years  ago.  We  are  able 
to-day  to  reverse  the  electrical  current,  making 
it  positive  or  negative  at  will ;  causing  it  to 
attract  or  repel.  It  seems  plausible,  then, 
that  the  ancients  knew  how  to  reverse  the 
attraction  of  gravitation.  No  other  force  that 
we  know  of  pulls  the  one  way  all  the  time.  It 
is  more  than  likely  that  the  foreman  of  a  quarry, 
instead  of  attempting  to  hitch  a  hundred  thou- 
sand men  to  the  block,  would  say  to  one  of  his 
workers : 

"Johnny,  the  boys  are  shouting  for  more 
brick  at  the  walls ;  just  take  this  stone  down 
to  them,  will  you  .'*  " 

Then  Johnny  would  pull  the  lever  that  re- 
versed the  current  of  gravitation  as  far  as  that 
stone  was  concerned,  and  would  gently  push  it 


^ 


! 


it  seems 
^ith  the 
actically 
>  of  this 
ve  been 

is  that 
e  about 
tries  we 
;  China 
ire  able 

making 

g  it  to 
e,  then, 
jrse  the 
rce  that 
me.  It 
quarry, 
^d  thou- 
leof  his 

)r  more 
e  down 

that  re- 
as  that 
push  it 


u 
w 

n 

< 

uT 

o 

u 

< 

U 
O 

w 

X 


k^ 


'W 


m 


I 


~n  !i 


The  Unchanging  East.  169 

down  to  the  wall  of  the  city,  asking  the  masons 
where  they  would  have  it  placed. 

My  next  task  is  to  settle  the  Tower  of  Babel 
question,  and  I  am  as  vvilling  to  throw  light 
upon  that  subject,  as  upon  any  of  the  foregoing. 
There  is  a  legend  to  the  effect  that  Baalbec  takes 
its  name  from  Babel,  and  that  here  was  built  the 
celebrated  tower  intended  to  reach  to  heaven. 
Then  there  is  the  additional  fact  that  confusion 
of  language  still  exists  in  the  village  of  Baalbec. 
The  great  stones  are  supposed  to  have  been  the 
foundation  of  this  tower,  which  seems  to  indi- 
cate that  its  builders  contemplated  a  reasonably 
high  and  solid  structure.  There  is,  of  course, 
no  inhabitant  of  Baalbec  now  old  enough  to 
remember  the  building  of  the  celebrated  tower, 
still,  the  opinions  of  the  present  residents  on  the 
subject  are,  at  least,  as  valuable  as  those  of  out- 
siders, and  this  is  a  synopsis  of  it.  Baalbec,  as 
I  have  said,  lies  at  the  bottom  of  a  cup.  The 
waters  which  supply  the  city  find  their  exit 
from  this  cup  through  gorges  of  the  mountains. 
It  is  quite  possible  that  one  of  the  numerous 
earthquakes,  which  make  life  exciting  in  this 
region,  tumbled  down  rocks  into  this  gorge  and 
dammed  up  the  stream.    The  chances  are,  then, 


I 


li!J 


"'I 


^1 


\l      '^*    # 


170  The  Unchanging  East. 

that  Baalbec  woke  up  one  morning  and  discov- 
ered itself  surrounded  by  water,  and  as  the  in- 
habitants had,  of  course,  no  boats  within  the 
city,  and  probably  little  wood  of  any  sort,  they 
may  have  found  it  impossible  to  escape.  Thus, 
before  the  accumulation  of  water  swept  away  the 
barriers  in  the  mountains,  the  whole  plain  in 
which  Baalbec  is  situated  may  have  become  a 
vast  lake  of  fresh  water,  and  probably  few  of  the 
citizens  escaped  drowning.  Now,  as  the  people 
of  the  present  day  in  Baalbec  truly  say,  those 
who  built  such  a  magnificent  city  were  no  fools, 
even  though  they  may  not  have  foreseen  a 
flood.  If  they  wanted  to  reach  heaven  'alleged 
my  informant),  they  would  naturally  have  begun 
their  Tower  of  Babel,  not  at  the  bottom  of  the 
valley,  but  on  the  top  of  the  nearest  high  moun- 
tain, which  would  have  saved  them  some  thou- 
sands of  feet  of  masonry.  It  was  therefore 
suggested  that  the  Tower  of  Babel  should  be 
built  alongside  the  city  to  such  a  height  that  if 
a  similar  flood  overtook  Baalbec,  the  inhabitants 
could  fly  for  safety  up  this  tower.  This  seems 
to  me  a  reasonable  and  sensible  deduction,  and 
thus  I  leave  it. 


1  '  ■ 


CHAPTER  VII. 


The  Wonderful  Druse  Tribe  —  The  Druse's  Contempt  for  the 
Turk  —  Story  of  a  Hitherto  Unrecorded  Expedition —  Or- 
dering a  Fresh  Relay  of  Turks  for  Slaughtering  Purposes  — 
The  Druse  Religion  —  A  Novel  That  Saved  a  Man's  Life. 

SURROUNDING  Baalbec,  but  principally  to 
the  west  of  it,  the  highlands  are  inhabited 
by  a  remarkable  tribe  called  the  Druses.  The 
chances  are  that  these  people  are  relatives  of 
the  British,  but  be  that  as  it  may,  the  Druses 
have  a  strong  liking  for  them.  Their  origin  is 
in  doubt ;  they  themselves  think  that  they  came 
originally  from  China,  and  it  is  rather  remark- 
able that  they  should  know  anything  about 
China,  for  usually  the  people  of  Syria  are 
densely  ignorant,  especially  so  far  as  geography 
is  concerned.  In  appearance  they  have  little 
in  common  with  the  modern  Chinese.  The 
Druses  are  big,  fair-haired,  stalwart  men,  with  a 
complexion  much  whiter  than  that  of  the  Arab 

or  Turk,  and  they  have  an  independent  swing  in 

171 


r 


m 


I     I 


IT 2  The  Unchanging  East. 

their  walk  which  differs  much  from  the  average 
Eastern  person.  It  is  thought  by  some  students 
of  antiquity  that  the  Druses  are  really  descended 
from  the  English  or  the  French.  It  is  asserted 
that  a  body  of  Crusaders  became  detached  from 
the  main  army,  defended  themselves  as  well  as 
they  could,  but  were  finally  driven  to  the  moun- 
tains. There,  being  tired  of  a  fruitless  war, 
they  settled  down,  and  took  to  themselves 
spouses  from  the  hill  tribes  which  they  joined, 
somewhat  after  the  manner  of  the  sjiipwrecked 
Spanish  Armada  sailors  on  the  coast  )f  Ireland, 
The  Druses  are  a  most  admirable  people,  ex- 
tremely hospitable,  ready  to  share  their  last 
crust  with  any  stranger  who  happens  along, 
invariably  refusing  money  for  the  services  they 
may  render  a  traveller,  and  they  are  always  fond 
of  a  jok  They  are  about  the  only  people  with 
any  comprehension  of  humour  in  Syria.  Living 
in  the  territory  of  the  Turk,  they  pay  neither 
tribute  nor  respect  to  him,  and  the  Turk,  up  to 
date,  has  been  quite  unable  to  bring  them  under 
the  yoke  of  the  empire.  I  had  my  first  sight  of 
the  Druses  in  Beyrout,  and  took  them  for 
important  officials  from  the  way  they  swaggered 
around  the  town,  and  from  the  fact  that  each  had 


I 


■m 


rage 
lents 
nded 
erted 
from 
ell  as 
noun- 
;  war, 
selves 
oined, 
recked 
reland. 
3le,  ex- 
ir   last 
along, 
ts  they 
ys  fond 
)le  with 
Living 
neither 
k,  up  to 
n  under 
sight  of 
lem   for 
daggered 
each  had 


HI 


I 


GATE   OF   THE   TEMPLE   OF   JUi'ITER,    llAALBEC. 


I 


I 


i 


Wl  ii 


'  1« 


The  Unchanging  East.  175 

a  gun  slung  over  his  shoulder,  for  the  Turks 
allow  no  one  but  themselves  to  carry  arms. 
They  pretend  not  to  see  the  armed  Druses,  and 
the  latter  do  not  seem  particularly  to  care 
whether  they  attract  the  attention  of  the  Turks 
or  not.  If  any  foreigner  enters  Turkey  with 
even  the  harmless  necessary  revolver,  it  is  taken 
from  him  and  confiscated.  A  man  we  met  in 
Damascus  succeeded  in  getting  his  revolver  and 
a  number  of  cartridges  through,  but  that  was  by 
taking  out  the  inner  works  of  a  kodak  and  plac- 
ing in  the  box  his  pistol  surrounded  by  the 
cartridges.  The  Turks  are  so  accustomed  to 
kodaks  that  they  allowed  him  to  pass  without 
question.  The  Druses,  however,  do  not  ask 
the  permission  of  the  Turks  to  carry  their 
guns,  and  the  Turks  keep  mum. 

About  sixty-five  thousand  Druses  inhabit  the 
mountains  of  Lebanon,  and  some  ten  thousand 
more  are  found  in  the  Hauran  district  beyond 
Damascus.  There,  too,  is  located  the  tribe  of 
Maronites,  a  large  community  which  numbers, 
all  told,  something  like  one  hundred  thirty-five 
thousand.  Like  the  Druses,  the  Maronites 
occupy  the  country  on  both  sides  of  Damascus, 
largely'  inhabiting  the  mountains  of   Lebanon. 


!■': 


I 


H}1 


176  The  Unchanging  East. 

The  Turks  promised  the  Druses  the  lands  of  the 
Maronites,  and  promised  the  Maronites  the  lands 
of  the  Druses.  They  also  stirred  up  ancient 
enmities  between  the  two  peoples,  fearing  that 
they  would  unite  and  sweep  Turkish  rule  from 
Syria.  The  Maronites  being  largely  in  excess 
of  the  Druses  in  numbers,  the  Turks  succeeded 
in  persuading  them  to  disarm,  and  then  joined 
the  Druses  in  attacking  them.  Naturally  the 
disarmed  people  suffered  heavily.  Peace  was 
patched  up  between  the  two  tribes  in  the  early 
sixties,  but  various  writers  inform  us  that  the 
ancient  enmity  between  the  Druses  and  the 
Maronites  has  continued.  I  did  not  find  this  to 
be  the  case.  Our  dragoman  was  a  Maronite, 
and  he  certainly  stood  high  in  the  esteem  of  the 
Druses.  By  what  I  could  learn  from  the  latter, 
they  are  now  "on  to  "  the  game  of  the  Turk, 
and  the  Sultan  has  moved  his  thimble-rigging 
performances  farther  west,  and  is  playing  his 
little  dodge  with  great  success  on  those  simple- 
tons, Russia,  England,   France,  and  Italy. 

Much  happens  in  the  Lebanon  mountains 
that  does  not  get  into  the  papers.  A  while 
since  the  Turks  sent  an  expedition  from  Bey- 
rout,  against  the  Druses  who  were   becoming 


-^r, 


the 

nds 

lent 

that 

rom 

cess 

sded 

ined 

the 

was 
early 
t  the 
I  the 
his  to 
onite, 
3f  the 
latter, 
Turk, 

ig  his 
imple- 

r 

• 

mtains 
while 
n  Bey- 
coming 


The  Unchanging  East.  177 

too  independent  to  be  bearable.  The  Turkish 
battalion  disappeared  into  the  valleys  of  the 
Lebanon,  and  for  some  days  there  was  consider- 
able anxiety  concerning  them.  But  at  last 
there  appeared  at  Bey  rout  a  tattered  Druse, 
badly  cut  up,  who  said  his  people  had  been 
defeated  after  a  terrible  battle,  and  that  the 
two  enemies  now  occupied  positions  opposing 
each  other,  neither  daring  to  attack.  Seeing 
that  the  Druses  could  not  withstand  the  might 
ot  the  Turkish  Empire,  he  had  deserted  his 
comrades,  and  had  come  to  swear  allegiance 
to  the  Turk.  As  a  matter  of  ^ood  faith,  know- 
ing all  the  paths  of  the  r  '  ..ntains,  he  had 
brought  a  message  from  the  leader  of  the  Turk- 
ish expedition,  who  asked  the  commander  at 
Beyrout  to  send  him  instantly  reinforcements, 
which  this  Druse  would  guide  to  the  place 
where  they  were  most  needed.  Another  band 
of  soldiers  was  at  once  despatched  under  the 
guidance  of  the  traitorous  Druse.  He  led  them 
into  the  mazes  of  the  mountains  and  up  a  high 
valley,  where  he  triumphantly  pointed  out  to 
them  the  Turkish  flag  waving  over  a  large  body 
of  men  in  Turkish  uniform.  Suddenly  the 
guiding  Druse  disappeared  into  the  wilderness, 


'! 


t      .5 


1> 
ii     1 


H9I' 


11 


«i 


fW 


^  I 


4 


I  I 


! 


178  The  Unchanging  East. 

and  from  all  around  fire  blazed  forth  on  the 
unfortunate  Turks,  who  thus,  too  late,  realised 
that  they  had  been  trapped.  The  Druses  had 
taken  in  the  first  expedition  and  wiped  them  off 
the  face  of  the  earth,  not  a  man  escaping,  and 
being  still  unsatisfied,  now  that  their  fiq^hting 
blood  was  up,  had  calmly  ordered  on  another 
regiment,  which  they  also  decimated,  just  as  a 
hungry  man  calls  for  a  secona  helping  at  a 
restaurant.  After  this  double  victory  the 
Druses  thought  of  going  down  to  Bey  rout  itself 
to  make  things  lively  and  interesting  in  that 
town,  and  it  was  not  fear  of  the  forces  they 
would  meet  that  hindered  them,  but  the  fact 
that  so  many  foreigners  lived  at  Bey  rout,  some 
of  whom  would  be  sure  to  get  hurt,  and  thus 
bring  on  outside  intervention,  as  had  been  the 
case  when  Napoleon  III.  sent  ten  thousand 
French  soldiers  to  keep  the  peace  in  Lebanon 
about  thirty-eight  years  ago.  The  Druses, 
however,  forwarded  a  polite  letter  to  the  Turkish 
commander  at  Beyrout,  requesting  him  to  send 
larger  men  next  time,  as  the  Turkish  uniforms 
they  had  captured  were  of  too  small  a  size  to  be 
of  much  use  r.s  ready-made  clothing  for  the 
Druse  warriors.     Thus  it  comes  that  although 


ill!  5    „ 


n 


w 


33 


! 


^  I) 


the 

tail 

he? 

to 

a 


air 
pa 
H- 
to 
he 
in 
ar 
di 
w 
h( 

C( 

tl 
o 
o 
C 

1( 

I 

V 

f 


The  Unchanging  East.  i8i 

the  rich  people  of  Beyrout  go  up  to  the  moun- 
tains of  Lebanon  in  the  summer  for  their 
health,  the  Turkish  officers  have  since  then  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  mountains  are  not 
a  suitable  health-resort  for  their  soldiers. 

A  missionary  who  has  spent  many  years 
among  the  Druses  gave  me  some  interesting 
particulars  about  their  religion  and  habits. 
He  says  they  are  the  most  difficult  people 
to  live  amongst  in  an  evangelical  way  that 
he  has  ever  had  any  experience  of.  Like  the 
inebriate  with  the  champagne,  you  don't  get 
any  forrader  with  them.  They  will  agree  cor- 
dially with  everything  a  missionary  says ;  they 
will  join  with  him  in  prayer  and  do  everything 
he  wishes,  but  they  stick  to  their  own  religion 
just  the  same.  The  faithful  are  enjoined  to 
conform  to  whatever  religion  is  dominant  around 
them,  but  to  remain  true  in  their  hearts  to  their 
own.  Thus  they  will  worship  with  equal 
complacency  in  a  Mohammedan  mosque  or  a 
Christian  church.  They  never  pray,  as  they 
look  upon  prayer  as  an  impertinence  toward  the 
Almighty.  They  believe  in  one  passionless  god 
who  is  all-wise,  and  therefore  needs  no  advice 
from  this  earth.     They  will  allow  Mohammedan 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


I.I 


|2^    |25 
ul  lii    12.2 


m  m 
^  us, 


2.0 


1.8 


L25  iU   11.6 


^^ 


<^ 


/i 


/: 


y 


/^ 


5V       /^  ^'^     ^f\ 


^    4^' 


'«?>'■ 


IBB 


mm 


I 


i  I 


>  Hi 


182  The  Unchanging  East. 

or  Christian  to  enter  their  churches,  but  when  a 
Mohammedan  visits  them  they  cease  their  own 
form  of  worship  and  begin  reading  the  Koran. 
When  a  Christian  comes,  they  read  the  Bible. 
They  do  not  practise  polygamy,  but  treat 
women  with  a  respect  similar  to  that  in  vogue 
among  civilised  nations,  teaching  them  to  read 
and  write,  which  every  Druse  woman  is  able  to 
do,  thus  forming  a  somewhat  striking  contrast 
to  their  Moslem  neighbours.  They  have  seven 
commandments,  the  first  and  greatest  of  which 
inculcates  absolute  truth,  but  that  is  only 
between  Druse  and  Druse,  for  they  may  lie  as 
much  as  they  like  to  the  outsider ;  it  is  not 
counted  against  them.  They  make  no  attempt 
to  proselyte  other  people,  for  they  know  it 
would  be  useless,  as  the  gates  of  heaven  were 
finally  closed  something  like  eight  hundred  years 
ago.  They  believe  in  one  indivisible  god,  but 
they  have  had  ten  Christs,  the  last  being  Hakim, 
whose  full  name  is  El  Hakim  biamriillah  Aboo 
'Alee  Mansoor,  who  held  the  gates  of  heaven 
open  for  thirty-six  years,  during  which  time  all 
mankind  had  a  chance  of  salvation.  The  gates 
were  at  last  closed  in  the  year  1020,  and  it 
seems  rather  illogical  of  the  Druses  to  shut  out 


^ 


The  Unchanging  East.  183 

everybody  born  since  that  time  from  Paradise. 
They  say  that  no  more  Christs  will  appear  to 
save  sinners,  but  that  when  Hakim  finally 
returns  it  will  be  to  conquer  the  world.  Hakim, 
by  the  way,  who  was  Caliph  of  Egypt,  seems  to 
have  been  the  worst  and  most  tyrannical  ruler 
that  ever  reigned  even  in  that  much  mis- 
governed country.  He  became  so  unbearable 
at  last  that  his  sister  arranged  for  his  assassina- 
tion, which  duly  came  off,  to  the  satisfaction  of 
all  the  people  of  Egypt  and  the  surrounding 
country. 

Although  the  Druses  are  a  warm-hearted, 
hospitable,  free-handed  people,  yet  once  their 
suspicions  are  aroused  they  are  as  cruel  as  fate, 
and  in  war  they  are  relentless,  as  has  been 
shown  more  than  once.  The  missionary  of 
whom  I  speak  was  one  day  jogging  up  to  his 
station  in  the  mountains  on  a  donkey.  He 
lived  in  Beyrout,  and  visited  the  Druses  as 
occasion  might  require.  A  friendly  member 
of  the  tribe  met  him  in  a  secluded  spot,  and 
told  him,  with  fear  and  trembling,  that  the 
Druses  had  received  information  which  pointed 
to  his  being  a  spy  in  the  employment  of  the 
Turkish  Government.     As  the  Druses  did  not 


illJ! 


!*  I 


I 


I 


"I 


r      i 

H 


II 


184  The  Unchanging  East. 

wish  to  cause  him  unnecessary  anxiety,  or  hurt 
his  feelings  in  the  least,  they  had  determined 
to  give  him  no  warning  of  his  fate,  but  to  cut 
his  throat  quietly  that  night  while  he  slept. 
The  missionary  had  not  gone  too  far  into  the 
Druse  country  to  retreat,  had  he  been  so 
minded,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  he  determined 
to  go  on  in  any  case,  as  he  had  announced  that 
he  would  visit  them  for  three  days.  He  knew 
that,  when  he  got  particulars  of  their  suspicions 
against  him,  he  could  easily  disprove  the  charge 
of  treachery  toward  them,  but  he  knew  also 
that  the  Druses  could  execute  first  and  investi- 
gate afterward,  which  knowledge  was  some- 
what discomforting.  He  met  his  parishioners 
near  '  e  large  tent  in  which  his  services  were 
held,  and  there  was  nothing  in  their  demeanour 
to  show  that  they  intended  to  assassinate  him, 
although  he  noticed  that  the  women  seemed 
rather  sorrowful.  He  greeted  them  cordially, 
and  was  as  cordially  greeted  by  them  in  return, 
but  he  gave  them  no  indication  of  his  acquaint- 
ance with  their  murderous  intentions  toward 
him.  That  evening,  after  holding  services,  the 
Druses,  men  and  women,  gathered  around  the 
central  fire  in  the  big  tent,  and  the  missionary 


T 


)r  hurt 
rmined 
to  cut 
slept, 
ito  the 
sen   so 
rmined 
^d  that 
i  knew 
picions 
charge 
5w  also 
investi- 
some- 
hioners 
js  were 
leanour 
te  him, 
seemed 
rdially, 
return, 
quaint- 
toward 
es,  the 
nd  the 
sionary 


A    DRUSE   GIRL. 


iM 


'IP" 

i 

II 


m 


The  Unchanging  East.  187 


tolJ  them  of  a  story  he  had  lately  been  reading, 
which  was  Robert  Louis  Stevenson's  "  Treasure 
Island,**  Having  roused  their  curiosity  regard- 
ing it,  they  pressed  him  to  relate  some  of  the 
incidents.  He  recited  from  memory,  translating 
the  absorbing  novel  from  the  original  for  the 
Druses,  and  the  missionary  was  staking  his  life 
on  the  device  which  saved  the  newly  wedded 
wife  of  the  caliph,  and  gave  to  the  world  the 
Arabian  Nights*  entertainments.  A  couple  of 
breathless  hours  passed,  and  the  Druses  listened 
to  the  recital  with  absorbed  interest.  At  last 
the  missionary  paused,  yawned,  and  said  he  was 
tired  from  his  long  ride  up  the  mountain,  and 
would  go  on  with  the  tale  next  night.  He  slept 
peacefully  till  daylight,  his  throat  uncut.  The 
next  night,  and  the  next  again  he  worked  off  on 
those  interested  Druses  the  well-known  serial 
formula  of  "  to  be  continued  in  our  next.**  He 
left  them  with  the  story  still  unfinished,  prom- 
ising them  to  complete  it  when  he  returned 
again  from  Beyrout.  From  that  city  he  sent 
them  conclusive  proof  that  he  was  not  the 
traitor  they  suspected  him  of  being,  showing 
them  that  he  had  no  more  communication  with 
the  Turks  than  was  necessary  in  arranging  the 


1 88  The  Unchanging  East. 

right  of  domicile.  And  so  to  this  day  he  passes 
among  this  mountain  tribe  scathless,  giving 
them,  now  and  then,  by  word  of  mouth,  free 
translations  of  interesting  English  literature. 


'f 


CHAPTER   VIII. 


T  r, 


Damascus  in  the  Early  Morning  —  Bazaars  and  Workshops 
—  An  Arabian  Overcoat  —  Terrors  of  Carriage  Driving  — 
House  Interiors  —  A  Game  of  Horsemanship. 

RETURNING  to  Muallakah  from  Baalbec, 
we  took  the  midnight  train  for  Damas- 
cus, and  arrived  on  the  outskirts  of  that  cele- 
brated city  on  a  dark,  cola  morning,  somewhere 
about  five  o'clock.  The  ride  in  the  train  was 
not  as  uncomfortable  as  our  former  trip  had 
been,  for  the  obliging  landlord  at  Muallakah 
bestowed  on  us  a  couple  of  mattresses  and 
some  blankets,  in  which  we  wrapped  ourselves, 
and  made  a  sort  of  sleeping-car  of  our  compart- 
ment. We  tumbled  sleepily  out  of  the  train  at 
Damascus  right  into  the  arms  of  the  authori- 
ties. I  thought  at  first  we  were  arrested  for 
something,  but  it  appeared  they  only  wished  to 
examine  our  teskeries,   and   while  one  official 

held  a  lantern  aloft,  the  other  scrutinised  that 

189 


m 


111 


190  The  Unchanging  East. 

interesting  document.  The  lantern  was  then 
turned  upon  our  faces  and  persons,  and  we 
were  looked  over  very  carefully  to  see  if  we 
corresponded  with  the  bill  of  lading.  They 
seemed  to  have  their  doubts  about  the  advisa- 
bility of  letting  us  pass,  but  after  i.n  animated 
conversation  with  our  dragoman,  they  finally, 
with  apparent  reluctance,  allowed  us  to  go  free. 
Day  was  breaking,  chill  and  gray,  as  we  got  out 
on  the  sandy  thoroughfare,  and  there  being  no 
carriages  at  the  station,  we  set  out  to  walk  to 
our  hotel.  Passing  a  tremendous  barracks  on  the 
one  hand,  and  a  mosque  on  the  other,  we 
reached  the  bank  of  a  clear  stream  and  skirted 
its  edge  until  we  came  to  a  bridge,  at  the  other 
end  of  which  stood  our  tavern.  Here  we  met, 
racing  for  the  station  with  true  Eastern  dilatori- 
ness,  three  or  four  carriages  which  would  reach 
there  half  an  hour  after  the  train  had  come  in. 
The  hotel  was  barred  like  a  fortress.  Two  great 
doors  studded  with  iron,  closed  the  arched  gate- 
way, and  after  some  delay  a  smaller  door  in  one 
of  the  big  leaves  was  unbolted  and  opened,  and 
we  were  allowed  to  enter  with  suspicion  evi- 
dently still  clinging  to  us.  The  wide  passage 
led  to  an  open  courtyard,  in  the  centre  of  which 


s  then 
ind  we 
I  if  we 
They 
advisa- 
nimated 
finally, 
go  free, 
got  out 
)eing  no 
walk  to 
:s  on  the 
her,  we 
[  skirted 
he  other 
we  met, 
dilatori- 
ild  reach 
come  in. 
wo  great 
led  gate- 
or  in  one 
med,  and 
cion  evi- 
;  passage 
of  which 


Q 
< 

< 

u 

as 


< 

u 

< 

Q 


■T- 


' 


il 


' 


The  Unchanging  East.  193 

played  a  fountain.  We  were  taken  up  a  wind- 
ing stair  and  along  a  gallery  overhanging  the 
courtyard,  then  into  what  was  veritably  a  marble 
palace.  The  floor  and  the  wainscoting  was  of 
white  marble  veined  with  a  black  bordering. 
We  were  shown  into  nice  large  airy  rooms,  with 
beds  protected  by  mosquito  -  netting.  Each 
room  had  windows  opening  after  the  French 
fashion,  and  nice  little  balconies  which  over- 
hung the  road  and  faced  the  river.  The  first 
view  from  this  balcony  reminded  one  of  a 
French  town,  the  river  being  canalised  and 
straight  as  a  ditch,  with  stone  embankments 
on  each  side  of  it,  and  the  immediate  buildings 
were  as  modern  as  any  in  Paris.  But  beyond 
arose  the  sky-piercing  columns  of  the  minarets 
with  their  conical  roofs  and  circular  balconies 
near  the  top.  As  the  sun  appeared  the  blind 
Moedhdhin  came  out  on  this  lofty  gallery  and 
sang  in  high  tones  the  call  to  prayer,  strolling 
around  and  around  the  minaret  as  he  did  so. 
Blind  men  are  usually  chosen  for  this  exalted 
office,  that  they  may  not  overlook  the  courts 
aud  housetops  from  their  elevated  situation. 
Against  the  deep  blue  sky  in  the  distance 
rose    the    mountains   of   Lebanon,    their   tops 


ii 


N 


•I 


i  . 


It 


/• 


i 


i  i 

!      i 


194  The  Unchanging  East. 

covered  with  snow,  and  thus  at  length  we 
realised  we  were  not  in  Paris  in  spite  of  the 
modern  marble  hotel,  the  iron  bridge,  and  the 
embankments  of  stone  which  confined  the  waters 
of  the  running  stream. 

Keeping  along  down  the  stream  from  our 
hotel,  we  came  to  a  broad  square,  and  thence 
passed  out  of  all  modernity  intc  the  real  ancient 
renowned  metropolis  of  Damascus,  probably  the 
oldest  city  in  the  world.  The  narrow  streets  were 
thronged  with  a  variegated  jostling  crowd,  and 
here  and  there,  towering  above  them,  a  stately 
camel  plodded  its  slow  way  along,  careless  on 
whose  toes  it  trod.  On  each  side  of  the  way, 
in  bazaars  entirely  open  to  the  street,  busy 
people  were  making  or  selling  things,  or  both. 
There  was  no  deception,  everything  was  done 
in  plain  sight,  and  as  you  could  buy  most  things 
fresh  from  the  hands  of  its  manufacturer,  you 
had  no  trouble  about  their  genuineness.  Every- 
thing ?s  advertised  ;  any  article  taken  from  the 
shop  windows.  It  seemed  an  ideal  way  of 
trading,  direct  from  the  maker  to  the  consumer, 
without  even  the  intervention  of  a  cooperative 
store.  The  din  was  usually  something  tremen- 
dous, especially  in  quarters   like  the   copper- 


The  Unchanging  East.  195 

smiths'  bazaar,  where  all  sorts  of  utensils  were 
being  beaten  out  on  little  anvHs  from  sheets  of 
copper.  The  street  called  Straight  is  wider 
than  one  would  have  expected,  and  the  bazaars 
there  are  two  stories  high.  These  are  selling, 
rather  than  manufacturing  bazaars,  and  you  can 
trade  on  the  ground  floor  or  mount  up  to  the 
wooden  gallery,  just  as  you  please.  The  street 
ends  at  the  door  of  the  great  mosque,  once  so 
famous,  but  now  like  the  suburban  jerry  build- 
er's paradise,  filled  with  heaps  of  lime,  and  cut 
stone,  and  sand,  and  all  the  usual  paraphernalia 
that  waits  on  the  erection  of  a  block  of  houses. 
Since  the  fire  that  nearly  destroyed  the  mosque 
they  have  been  rebuilding,  and  apparently  do 
not  make  very  rapid  progress  with  their  work. 

The  weather  was  so  unexpectedly  cold  that  I 
was  compelled  to  buy  additional  clothing,  and 
the  cnly  thing  that  seemed  at  all  suitable  was 
an  Arabian  abbieh,  several  of  which  a  tall  Arab 
was  peddling  in  the  street  called  Straight.  He 
told  my  dragoman  that  it  had  been  constructed 
by  his  wife,  who  lived  about  twelve  miles  from 
Damascus,  and  when  she  had  about  half  a  dozen 
of  these  garments  made,  he  came  in  and  sold 
them.     The  price  was  two  and  a  half  mejedehs, 


ill 


"i., 


I 


s(i>i 


liiiiiii 


I 


Li 


196  The  Unchanging  East. 

or  something  over  two  dollars,  and  a  more  ser- 
viceable or  warmer  overcoat  I  never  had  in  my 
life.  It  appeared  to  be  fashioned  of  one  piece 
of  cloth,  at  least  up  to  date  I  have  been  able  to 
find  no  seam  in  it.  In  colour  it  had  broad  bands 
of  black  and  white  running  perpendicularly,  and 
it  was  ornamented  by  an  edging  of  red  embroid- 
ery. It  reached  from  the  neck  to  the  heels 
and  had  no  sleeves,  no  buttons,  no  pockets,  and 
all  in  all,  is  a  garment  I  can  strongly  recommend 
to  any  man  in  the  habit  of  getting  inebriated 
who  finds  a  difficulty  in  negotiating  the  ordinary 
top-coat  of  commerce  This  wonderful  article 
of  apparel  is  as  thick  and  as  water-proof  as  a 
plank,  and  the  Arabs  use  it  indiscriminately  as 
an  overcoat,  a  night-shirt,  and  a  prayer-rug,  all 
of  which  purposes  it  answers  admirably.  The 
absence  of  buttons  enables  you  to  wrap  it  round 
you  as  tightly  as  you  please,  and  it  keeps  out 
even  the  piercing  cold  of  the  mountain  regions 
of  Syria.  This  garment,  useful  as  it  was,  never 
took  kindly  to  me,  and  became  evidence  against 
me  later  on,  when,  under  the  persuasion  of  cer- 
tain officials,  I  consented  to  spend  some  time  in 
prison.  The  distinguished  idiot,  who  occupied 
the  chief  official  position  in  the  place,  said  it  was 


r 


ser- 
my 
>iece 
le  to 
ands 
,  and 
)roid- 
heels 
,,  and 
mend 
riated 
linary 
irticle 
i  as  a 
;ely  as 
ug,  all 

The 
round 
ps  out 
egions 

never 
against 
of  cer- 
time  in 
:cupied 
1  it  was 


I— I 

O 
m 

U 

< 


III 

ill 


IH 


I 


HI 


The  Unchanging  East.  199 

quite  evident  that  I  had  come  into  Turkey  dis- 
guised as  an  Arab  in  order  to  find  out  something. 
The  people  of  Damascus  had  apparently  no  de- 
lusions upon  that  score  and  took  mc  for  nothing 
but  what  I  was,  a  thin-skinned  Westerner  who 
suffered  so  much  from  the  cold  that  he  was 
willing  to  put  on  any  sort  of  blanket  that  would 
keep  out  the  bitter  wind.  They  usually  laughed 
as  I  passed  them,  and  I  don't  blame  them.  How- 
ever, one  met  more  scowls  than  laughter  in  Da- 
mascus, and  it  was  very  palpable  that  they  do 
not  look  with  favour  upon  intruders.  There 
is,  moreover,  for  the  Western  visitor  a  certain 
vague  feeling  of  danger  and  mystery  as  he 
treads  the  tortuous  maze  of  those  narrow 
streets.  It  is  not  so  many  years  ago  that 
Damascus  rose  against  its  Christian  population 
and  massacred  more  than  six  thousand  of  them, 
burning  their  quarter  to  the  ground  and  ruining, 
for  the  time  at  least,  the  trade  of  the  city,  which 
was  largely  in  Christian  hands  It  seems  to  a 
stranger  that  a  recurrence  of  this  disaster  might 
at  any  moment  become  possible.  Still  this 
sense  of  apprehension  may  be  due  entirely  to 
imagination  or  to  a  lack  of  knowledge  of  the 
language.     When  we  were  driving  in  a  carriage 


\- 


200  The  Unchanging  East. 

through  one  of  the  narrowest  lanes  of  Damas- 
cus we  nearly  ran  over  a  fierce-looking  Arab 
who  sprang  into  a  doorway  to  save  himself. 
His  eyes  glared,  he  shook  his  fist,  and  vehe- 
mently screamed  out  a  torrent  of  language  that 
from  its  sound  I  judged  to  consist  chiefly  of  the 
most  terrible  imprecations.  The  driver  appeared 
to  strike  at  him  with  his  whip  and  I  fully  ex- 
pected that  the  answer  would  be  a  shot,  but 
as  the  dragoman,  who  understood  the  lingo, 
seemed  in  no  way  moved  by  the  occurrence, 
I  asked  him  what  the  man  had  said. 

"  Oh,"  he  answered,  **  the  Arab  is  merely  tell- 
ing the  driver  that  a  lot  of  boys  are  hanging  on 
behind  the  carriage  and  he  asked  him  to  give 
them  a  cut  with  the  whip,  which  the  driver  has 
done." 

This  was  a  most  simple  explanation  of  what 
seemed  to  my  untutored  ears  the  beginning  of 
a  tragedy,  and  it  shows  how  an  ignorant  stranger 
may  misapprehend  what  is  passing  around  about 
liim.  All  in  all,  that  carriage  drive  was  rather 
an  unpleasant  experience.  The  streets  were 
scarcely  wider  than  the  carriage  itself  and  were 
always  crowded  with  foot-passengers,  yet  the 
driver  paid  not  ^he  slightest  attention  to  the 


The  Unchanging  East.  201 

comfort  or  safety  of  any  one,  but  whipped  up 
his  horses  and  di  >ve  like  a  chariot  of  destruc- 
tion among  the  crowd,  making  all  ahead  of  us 
scatter  as  best  they  could  into  doorways  or  up 
on  the  counters  of  bazaars.  No  one  hurled 
stones  at  us,  as  they  certainly  would  have  been 
quite  justified  in  doing,  neither  did  they  make 
any  protest ;  it  was  all  taken  as  a  natural  thing 
that  the  man  who  had  a  carriage  would  ride 
down  the  foot-passenger  if  he  could.  It  was 
quite  useless  to  get  the  dragoman  to  expostu- 
late with  the  driver.  The  latter  shrugged  his 
shoulders,  amazed  that  we  cared  anything  about 
the  fate  of  the  unfortunate  foot-passengers. 
"  Let  them  get  out  of  the  way,"  he  said,  which 
was  a  difficult  thing  to  do  unless  they  had  a 
balloon  each  ;  or  wings.  *    • 

A  young  author  told  me  once  that  although  he 
loathed  politics,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  joining 
political  campaigns  at  election  times,  and  can- 
vassed for  the  candidate  in  order  that  he  might 
have  an  excuse  for  entering  strange  houses. 
He  liked  to  see  the  interior  of  other  peoples* 
houses  and  learn  how  his  fellows  lived.  Damas- 
cus would  be  the  spot  for  that  young  man.  The 
showing  of  the  interiors  of  houses  is  one  of  the 


202  The   Unchanging  East. 


i  A 


stock  industries  of  the  place.  There  is  a  house 
in  a  narrow  street  at  Beyrout  which  is  a  dream 
of  architectural  beauty  inside,  but  which  looks 
like  a  factory  as  far  as  the  exterior  is  concerned. 
In  Damascus  there  is  always  a  dramatic  contrast 
between  the  inside  and  the  outside  of  a  house. 
The  blank  mud  walls  of  the  exterior,  broken 
only  by  a  stout  door,  give  no  indication  of  what 
may  be  seen  once  that  door  has  admitted  the 
stranger.  The  door  usually  gives  access  to  an 
open  court  in  which  various  shrubs  grow,  some- 
times a  palm,  an  orange,  or  a  fig  tree,  or  per- 
haps lemon,  all  of  which  semi-tropical  plants 
make  you  wonder  how  they  get  along  on  some 
of  these  extremely  cold  days  which  Damascus 
experiences  in  winter,  standing  as  it  does  sev- 
eral thousand  feet  above  the  sea-level.  Pos- 
sibly the  reason  may  be  that  the  sun  is  always 
strong  and  the  walls  save  those  tender  plants 
from  the  biting  winds.  There  is  a  passage 
from  the  outside  courts  to  a  square  in  the 
interior,  the  centre  of  which  is  open  to  the 
sky,  while  around  it  are  the  rooms  and  covered 
verandas  which  look  upon  the  flowing  foun- 
tain in  the  middle.  The  pavement  is  usually 
of   marble,  sometimes   pure   white,    sometimes 


Rri 


house 
dream 

looks 
erned. 
)ntrast 
house. 
Droken 
f  what 
ed  the 
Is  to  an 

some- 
or  per- 

plants 
n  some 
imascus 
)es  sev- 
[.  Pos- 
i  always 
r  plants 
passage 

in   the 

to  the 
covered 
ig  foun- 

usually 
metimes 


u 
< 

< 

Q 

W 

u 

H 
u 

u 


M? 


The  Unchanging  East.  205 

black  and  white,  and  sometimes  a  varicoloured 
mosaic.  The  slender  Moorish  pillars  that  sup- 
port the  roof  are  also  of  marble  with  marvel- 
lously carved  arches  and  cornices  At  the  end 
of  the  recess  where  the  roof  covers  an  open 
space,  is  generally  to  be  found  a  marble  bench 
for  sitting  or  reclining  on,  upholstered  with  lux- 
urious rugs  and  soft  pillows,  while  here  and 
there  before  it  stand  little  arabesque  tables 
bearing  tobacco  and  cigarettes.  Glass  bottles 
with  coils  of  tubing  and  amber  mouthpieces  are 
indication  that  here  facing  the  fountain  is  the 
smoking-room  of  the  house.  In  most  of  the 
enclosed  rooms  the  marble  floors  are  at  two 
levels,  the  proprietor  and  his  family  occupying 
the  upper  level  and  his  servants  the  lower.  In 
most  of  the  houses  we  saw,  the  owner  had  once 
been  rich  and  was  now  come  down  in  the  world, 
which  is  easy  to  do  in  Damascus.  From  one 
a  tremendous  contribution  had  been  exacted  to 
help  carry  on  the  Greek  war,  another  had  made 
disastrous  railway  speculations,  and  so  on.  In 
some  cases  the  splendid  marble-floored  rooms 
with  their  prettily  frescoed  walls  and  ceilings 
and  cornices,  were  used  as  storehouses  for 
grain,  the  house  itself  contributing  to  the  rev- 


.^./j 


T™"" 


206  The  Unchanging  East. 

enue  of  its  owner  through  the  fees  demanded 
for  the  showing  of  it. 

The  most  striking  and  lovely  sight,  however, 
about  Damascus  is  the  view  of  the  city  itself 
from  the  hilltop  to  the  northwest,  which  the  eye 
can  observe  without  the  cooperation  of  the  nose 
being  called  into  requisition  —  always  an  advan- 
tage in  the  East.  It  is  here  that  Mahomet  is 
said  to  have  stood  with  only  a  few  followers  at 
his  back,  declaring  that  he  would  not  enter  the 
city,  as  Allah  intended  that  man  should  have 
but  one  paradise,  and  his  was  to  be  in  heaven. 
It  is  added  that  when  Mahomet  had  a  hundred 
thousand  men  at  his  back  he  had  no  such  com- 
punction but  forthwith  entered.  This,  however, 
can  hardly  be  true,  as  the  Moslems  took  Damas- 
cus in  the  year  634,  two  years  after  Mahomet 
had  died.  Nevertheless,  Damascus  is  a  holy 
city  of  the  Moslems,  for  here  lie  buried  three 
of  Mahomet's  wives  and  his  most  celeb»*^.ted 
daughter,  whose  grave,  by  the  way,  is  also 
shown  at  Medina.  And  from  Damascus  every 
year  starts  the  pilgrim  caravan  for  Mecca, 
accompanying  the  dromedary  that  has  over  its 
back  the  green  canopy  containing  the  new 
covering  sent  annually  by  the  Sultan,  to  be 


jmanded 

lowever, 
ity  itself 
1  the  eye 
the  nose 
in  advan- 
ihomet  is 
[lowers  at 
enter  the 
Duld  have 
n  heaven, 
a  hundred 
such  com- 
,,  however, 
3k  Damas- 
Mahomet 
is  a  holy 
iried  three 
celeb^^.ted 
ly,   is   also 
scus  every 
:or   Mecca, 
as  over  its 
the   new 
Itan,  to  be 


i — . 

»^ 

U 

C/3 

•< 

< 

G 


O 


O 

P5 


'^W 


!  I 


=r1 


The  Unchanging  East.  209 

hung  up  in  the  great  mosque  at  Mecca.  This 
important  procession  is  escorted  by  all  the  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  dignitaries  of  the  place,  ac- 
companied by  an  imposing  military  display. 

The  ancient  city,  as  viewed  from  this  height 
of  five  hundred  feet  above  it,  presents  a  most 
entrancing  spectacle.  It  is  like  a  great  white 
spheroid  of  pearl  surrounded  by  a  vivid  setting 
of  emerald.  The  two  rivers  that  flow  into 
Damascus  from  the  mountains,  and  lose  them- 
selves shortly  after  in  the  arid  desert,  are  the 
cause  of  this  oasis  of  luxurious  vegetation 
which  seems  so  affectionately  to  embrace  the 
white  city  with  its  cloud-like  canopies  of  domes 
and  numerous  sky-piercing  minarets.  No  won- 
der the  indignant  Naaman  said  to  the  prophet, 
when  commanded  to  bathe  in  the  Jordan  :  "  Are 
not  Abana  and  Pharpar,  rivers  of  Damascus, 
better  than  all  the  waters  of  Israel  ? "  For 
thus  it  must  seem  to  all  the  citizens  of  Damas- 
cus. No  matter  how  often  the  city  was  taken 
and  destroyed,  and  it  has  been  captured  more 
frequently  than  any  other  habitation  on  earth, 
it  was  always  rebuilt  because  of  its  rivers. 
Ancient  leases  were  given  in  England  for  as 
long  as  grass  grows  and  water  runs,  and  in  like 


Wi 


2IO  The  Unchanging  East. 

manner  Damascus  holds  its  lease  of  life.  No 
Westerner  ever  appreciates  water  until  he  has 
paid  a  visit  to  the  arid  East. 

About  a  mile  to  the  west  of  Damascus,  at 
the  foot  of  the  mountains,  is  the  gorge  from 
which  the  River  Abana  issues  to  the  plain,  and 
here  is  situated  a  caf^  and  some  gardens  where 
a  man  may  spend  a  happy  day.  Between  this 
gorge  and  the  city  is  a  broad  parade-ground 
where  troops  are  exercised,  and  where  in  the 
evening  the  young  bloods  of  the  city  who 
possess  Arabian  horses  come  out  to  play  an 
equestrian  game  somewhat  like  polo,  but  lack- 
ing the  ball.  There  about  sunset,  while  the 
bugles  were  blowing  in  the  huge  surrounding 
barracks,  and  the  Turkish  troops  were  singing 
"  God  save  the  Sultan  "  as  they  are  compelled 
to  do  every  evening,  we  stood  and  watched  the 
antics  of  the  horsemen.  Each  man  had  a  long 
stick  which  he  flourished  like  a  spear,  selecting 
some  other  galloping  horseman  and  hurling  the 
stick  lancewise  at  him.  Part  of  the  game 
seemed  to  be  the  recovering  of  the  stick  with- 
out dismounting,  which  was  a  somewhat  difficult 
thing  to  do.  The  horses  were  all  most  gor- 
geous in  their  trappings,  and  they  raced  at  break- 


The   Unchanging  East.  211 

neck  speed  over  the  not  too  level  plain,  guided 
apparently  by  the  touch  of  the  heel.  We  stood 
there  long  in  the  humane  hope  that  some  one 
would  come  a  cropper,  but  they  all  seemed  to 
miss  disaster  by  the  most  narrow  of  shaves. 


1 


i 


\ 


I! 


I 


CHAPTER    IX. 

Our  Dragoman  —  The  Damascus  Railway  —  Trouble  with 
the  Governor  —  A  Trip  to  Tripoli  —  High  Jinks  on  Land- 
ing —  The  Very  Worst  Hotel  in  the  World. 

MUCH  of  the  comfort  and  pleasure  derived 
from  a  visit  to  a  land  of  an  unknown 
tongue  is  due  to  a  competent  interpreter. 
Most  of  us  who  live  in  America  or  England 
have  our  knowledge  of  Arabic  limited  to  the 
justly  celebrated  notation  of  that  name,  there- 
fore my  comrade  and  myself  considered  our- 
selves fortunate  in  having  with  us  a  genial 
young  Maronite  named  Selim  G.  Tabet,  who 
spoke  fluently  Arabic,  English,  Turkish,  Greek, 
and  other  useful  languages.  He  was  an  indefat- 
igable young  man,  infinitely  obliging,  and,  what 
is  rarer  in  these  parts,  scrupulously  honest.  He 
had  been  recommended  to  us  by  the  agent  to 
the  Prince  line  in  Bey  rout,  and  the  only  flaw  I 
could  possibly  pick  in  the  character  of  Selim 

212 


!  with 

Land- 


rived 
nown 
reter. 
gland 
3  the 
there- 
l  our- 
enial 
who 
jreek, 
defat- 
,  what 
He 
ent  to 
flaw  I 
Selim 


SELIiM    C.    TABET,    DRAGOMAN. 


The  Unchanging  East.  215 

was  his  pathetic  and  almost  cringing  fear  of  the 
Turkish  oflficial.  However,  it  is  all  but  impos- 
sible for  a  man  who  has  breathed  the  free  air  of 
America  and  England  to  appreciate  accurately 
the  situation  of  a  civilised  person  under  Turkish 
dominion.  On  several  occasions  we  were  stopped 
by  some  person  in  authority,  and  Selim  was 
questioned  shrewdly  as  to  our  object  in  visiting 
that  particular  section  of  the  country.  On  these 
occasions  he  came  as  near  to  trembling  as  any 
man  can,  as  he  breathlessly  asked  us  to  produce 
our  documents  and  satisfy  the  questioner.  As 
a  rule  the  official  would  examine  our  papers 
minutely,  and,  handing  them  back  with  a  glance 
of  unsatisfied  suspicion,  would  walk  away  with 
an  abruptness  that  could  hardly  be  termed 
polite.  Then  all  the  young  Maronite's  valour 
returned  to  him  and  he  would  tell  us  courage- 
ously what  stern  decisive  action  might  have  been 
expected  on  his  part  had  the  official  proved 
obstreperous. 

We  went  back  over  the  Lebanon  railroad  in 
the  daylight  so  that  we  might  enjoy  the  scenery. 
At  Muallakah,  on  the  top,  an  hour  or  so  is  al- 
lowed for  luncheon.  Having  had  a  corner  seat 
all   the  way  from    Damascus   and   desiring  to 


; 


r^ 


1' 


:I   ! 


2i6  The  Unchanging  East. 

retain  it,  I  left  upon  it  my  Arabian  overcoat 
and  my  handbag.  On  returning  from  lunch  I 
found  a  gigantic  Turk  had  calmly  moved  my 
impedimenta,  and  was  occupying  my  place.  I 
went  over  to  the  dragoman,  who  was  standing 
on  another  part  of  the  platform  conversing  with 
his  friend  the  landlord  of  the  inn,  and  said 
to  him  : 

"  There  is  a  inan  in  my  seat,  and  I  wish  you 
would  tell  him  to  get  out."  Selim  replied  that 
this  was  an  unheard-of  outrage,  and  came  hero- 
ically forward,  but  the  moment  he  saw  who  sat 
in  the  seat,  he  wilted,  turned  pale,  and  drew 
me  aside. 

"  That  is  the  governor  of  the  next  district," 
he  said.  "  I  will  find  you  a  seat  in  another 
carriage." 

"  No,  you  won't ;  that's  my  seat  and  I  want 
it." 

"But  he's  the  governor." 

"  He  may  be  twenty  governors  for  all  I  care, 
but  I  am  governor  of  that  portion  of  the  train. 
I  have  paid  for  it,  occupied  it,  and  am  going  to 
have  it." 

**  Let  me  get  you  another  seat,  sir,"  implored 
Selim  ;  "  tht  governor  is  only  going  for  a  short 


r  <l 


rcoat 
ich  I 
I  my 
e.  I 
iding 
with 
said 

1  you 
i  that 

hero- 
lo  sat 

drew 

trict," 
lother 

want 


[  care, 

train. 

ing  to 

plored 
1  short 


The  Unchanging  East.  217 

distance,  and  then  you  can  return  to  that 
carriage." 

"  The  corner  seats  are  all  occupied,"  I  replied, 
"and  I  want  a  corner  seat.  I  don't  go  over  the 
mountains  of  Lebanon  every  day  and  am  not 
going  to  be  cheated  out  of  my  place." 

"  I  will  turn  somebody  out  and  get  you  a 
corner  seat  somewhere  else,"  insisted  the  drag- 
oman. 

"  No,  let  us  have  even-handed  justice ;  that 
would  merely  be  piling  tyranny  on  tyranny.  I 
want  my  own  seat,  and  my  own  seat  I  intend 
to  have.  Now  are  you  going  to  speak  to  this 
man  or  shall  I  be  compelled  to  do  it  myself  ? " 
Selim's  knees  began  to  knock  together  and  his 
lips  turned  blue  as  he  beseeched  me  to  be  satis- 
fied with  a  place  elsewhere.  Seeing  his  distress, 
I  left  him,  went  into  the  carriage,  picked  up 
my  bag  and  coat,  and  spoke  to  the  governor 
with  all  the  politeness  which  my  words  imply : 

"  Here,  old  man,  you're  in  my  place,  and  you 
must  get  out.  I  want  that  seat."  The  gov- 
ernor looked  up  at  me  bewildered,  not  under- 
standing what  had  been  said.  But  one  of  his 
entourage,  frowning  heavily,  said  in  passable 
English : 


l!.    ■'    , 


2i8  The  Unchanging  East 

**  This  is  the  honourable  governor  of  the  next 
district." 

"  So  I  have  been  told,"  I  answered ;  "  there- 
fore translate  to  him  what  I  say,  which  is  to  the 
effect  that  he  has  removed  my  belongings  with- 
out my  permission,  and  is  occupying  my  seat, 
for  which  I  have  paid  and  in  which  I  propose 
to  sit  from  Damascus  to  Beyrout." 

"  What  does  he  say  ?  "  the  governor  appeared 
to  ask  of  his  comrade.  The  other  seemed  to 
translate  into  Arabic  my  statement.  The  gov- 
ernor instantly  rose,  vacated  the  seat,  and  bowed 
with  a  courtesy  that  made  me  ashamed  of  my- 
self. His  companion  then  said  that  the  gov- 
ernor tendered  me  a  thousand  apologies,  as  when 
he  removed  the  coat  he  thought  it  belonged  to 
some  Arab.  I  returned  to  the  official  thanks 
for  his  complaisance,  and  begged  the  interpre- 
ter to  assure  him  that  my  only  reason  for  desir- 
ing a  seat  in  the  corner  was  that  I  was  a 
stranger  in  Syria,  that  the  country  through 
which  we  were  travelling  was  most  grand  and 
imposing,  and  I  was  deeply  desirous  of  seeing 
it,  but  that,  nevertheless,  I  should  be  happy  if 
the  governor  consented  still  to  occupy  the  place. 
This  he  most  generously  refused  to  do,  saying 


The  Unchanging  East.  219 


next 

here- 

0  the 
with- 
seat, 

opose 

)eared 
led  to 

1  gov- 
bowed 
of  my- 
e  gov- 
9  when 
ged  to 

hanks 
erpre- 
desir- 
was  a 
rough 
d  and 
seeing 

ppy  if 

place, 
saying 


he  was  delighted  at  the  compliment  paid  to  his 
country  and  overjoyed  that  I  condescended  to 
admire  it.  Thus  the  international  episode 
ended,  and  before  the  governor  left  the  train 
we  were  the  greatest  of  friends,  and  I  had  a 
cordial  invitation  to  visit  him.  He  deeply 
regretted  his  inability  to  speak  English,  and  I 
mourned  the  fact  that  my  early  defective  educa- 
tion had  not  included  Turkish. 

Arriving  at  Beyrout  we  found  ourselves  un- 
decided whether  to  go  south  to  Sidon  or  north 
to  Tripoli.  1  preferred  to  go  south,  but  my 
companion  thought  we  had  better  take  to  the 
north. 

"  You  see,"  I  said  to  him,  "  we  can  work  up 
through  Sidon  and  Tyre  to  the  Bay  of  Akka 
and  then  strike  inland  to  Tiberias,  finally  reach- 
ing El  Kuds,  which  is  a  town  I  want  very  much 
to  visit." 

**  What  is  there  to  see  there  ?'*  he  asked. 

"Oh,  I  think  it  is  by  all  odds  the  most 
interesting  place  in   Palestine." 

"  I  never  heard  of  it,"  replied  my  friend. 

"  Oh,  yes,  you  did,"  I  assured  him,  "  although 
it  was  probably  under  the  name  of  Jerusalem. 
Thus  you  see  what  it  is  to  hold  converse  in  the 


220  The  Unchanging  East. 


train  with  a  Turkish  pasha.  He  told  me  El 
Kuds  was  the  proper  name  for  Jerusalem,  and 
I  am  merely  working  off  my  knowledge  on 
you." 

By  going  south  we  would  pass  through  Tyre 
and  Sidon  and  Acre,  from  thence  crossing  to 
Lake  Tiberias,  and  along  the  Jordan  to  Jeru- 
salem, after  which  we  could  make  our  way  to 
Jaffa  and  join  our  steamer  there.  My  friend, 
however,  was  tired  of  the  accommodation  af- 
forded us  throughout  S)'-ia,  and  yearned  for 
the  fleshpots  of  the  Creole  Prince^  which  I 
have  to  admit  held  a  great  attraction  for  myself. 

A  wretched  little  steamer,  called  the  Prince 
George,  which  the  Turks  had  probably  cap- 
tured from  the  Greeks,  was  our  only  conveyance 
to  the  south,  while  as  far  as  the  north  was 
concerned  there  waited  for  us  a  magnificent 
Clyde-built  steamer  of  the  Egyptian  line,  and 
by  going  to  Tripoli  we  could  come  next  day 
upon  the  Creole  Prince,  which  was  cruising  up 
and  down  the  coast  of  Syria  in  a  most  dt  right- 
ful fashion.  Not  knowing  what  to  do,  we 
tossed  up  for  it,  and  the  north  won.  Accord- 
ingly, we  made  our  way  to  the  steamer,  and 
took  passage  for  Tripoli.     The  afternoon  was 


Tl 


me  El 
m,  and 
ige  on 

:h  Tyre 
sing  to 
o  Jeru- 
way  to 
'  friend, 
tion  af- 
ned  for 
which  I 
r  myself. 
e  Prince 
bly  cap- 
iveyance 
orth  was 
,gnificent 
line,  and 
next  day 
iiising  up 
t  dt  jght- 
)   do,    we 
Accord- 
imer,  and 
noon  was 


o 

1—4 

t/3 


f  .1 


cha 
the 

joy 

pid 
mo 
ev€ 
spc 
tio 

an 
of 
th 
ah 

pi 

sc 

bi 
le 

tl 

tl 

P 
s 

V 

f 


The  Unchanging  East.  223 

charming,  the  Mediterranean  like  a  sea  of  glass, 
the  Khedival  steamer  luxurious,  and  so  we  en- 
joyed our  fine  sea-promenade  along  the  rugged 
picturesque  Syrian  coast  with  its  high  chain  of 
mountains  to  the  east.  The  Arabs  and  Turks, 
even  those  who  have  a  good  deal  of  money  to 
spare,  rarely  spend  it  for  first-class  u^commoda- 
tion  on  these  steamers,  and  yet  they  travel  in 
great  comfort.  They  take  mattresses  with  them 
and  an  ample  supply  of  blankets  and  that  sort 
of  thing.  These,  when  the  weather  is  fine, 
they  spread  out  on  deck,  collect  their  family 
about  them  on  the  springy  oases,  some  wrap- 
ping themselves  up  in  their  cloaks  and  going 
soundly  to  sleep,  others  lighting  their  hubble- 
bubbles  and  smoking  luxuriously,  sitting  cross- 
legged  on  the  mattress,  thus  economising  room. 
As  the  evening  drew  on  the  open  spaces  of 
the  deck  were  occupied  by  Mohammedans  at 
their  interesting  and  gymnastic  prayers.  The 
preparatory  ablutions  on  shipboard  are  of  the 
slightest,  merely  consisting  of  pouring  some 
water  from  a  tin  can  on  the  hands  and  bare 
feet.  Then  they  spread  their  rugs  on  deck 
so  that  they  may  bow  toward  Mecca,  standing, 
kneeling,  and  prostrating  themselves  upon  them, 


< 


•>:;.'* 


y  1 


iiS! 


I 


jua 


i;|i 


224  The  Unchanging  East. 

always  facing  the  ancient  capital  of  Mohammed- 
anism. So  strict  are  they  that  if  the  ship 
veers  around,  as  often  happens,  the  prayer-rug 
has  to  be  shifted  several  times  during  the 
devotions.  Every  good  Moslem  prays  five 
times  a  day,  and  four  times  in  each  session  of 
devotion  he  repeats  what  may  be  called  the 
Lord's  Prayer  of  Mohammedanism,  considered 
by  scholars  to  be  the  gem  of  the  Koran,  and 
which  runs  as  follows :  "  In  the  name  of  God 
the  compassionate  compassioner.  Praise  be  to 
God,  the  Lord  of  the  worlds,  the  compassionate 
compassioner,  the  Sovereign  of  the  day  of  judg- 
ment. Thee  do  we  worship,  and  of  Thee  do  we 
beg  assistance.  Direct  us  in  the  right  way,  in 
the  way  of  those  to  whom  Thou  hast  been 
gracious  ;  on  whom  there  is  no  wrath,  and  who 
go  not  astray." 

Coming  to  anchor  opposite  Tripoli,  there 
ensued  a  scene  of  the  wildest  confusion  I  have 
ever  beheld,  contrasting  strangely  with  the  or- 
derly landing  which  takes  place  from  a  Euro- 
pean steamer.  As  soon  as  we  came  to  rest  it 
was  evident  that  the  Yale  and  Harvard  boat- 
race  was  making  toward  us,  only  there  was 
a  great  deal  more  splashing  in  the  rowing,  and, 


t 


The  Unchanging  East.  225 

perhaps,  more  bad  language  used  between  the 
competitors  than  is  ever  heard  during  that 
classic  contest.  These  great  rowing-boats  came 
pell-mell,  all  in  a  huddle,  up  to  our  gangway. 
There  were  between  ten  and  twenty  large-sized 
craft,  and  it  seemed  as  if  a  free  fight  was  going 
on  at  the  bottom  of  the  ship's  ladder.  All  the 
chief  rowers  of  the  boats  stormed,  and  fought, 
and  squabbled,  while  other  athletic  individuals 
came  tearing  up  the  sloping  stairs  outside. 
These  energetic  and  rampageous  watermen 
charged  in  among  the  crowd  that  waited  around 
the  top  of  the  gangway,  and  we  experienced  all 
the  excitement  of  being  boarded  by  an  enemy. 
One  pirate  snatched  my  handbag  from  me  and 
flung  it  airily  over  the  side  of  the  vessel, 
another  grasped  my  overcoat  and  sent  that 
fluttering  through  space,  each  shouting  to  the 
scoundrel  below  to  secure  the  articles  while 
the  victim  was  being  attended  to  on  deck.  It 
was  a  great  blessing  that  the  boats  were  so 
numerous  and  packed  so  tightly  together,  for 
thus  nothing  flung  overboard  could  fall  into  the 
water.  Each  pirate  claimed  that  this  robbery 
of  my  belongings  gave  him  a  mortgage  on  me, 
and  together  they  dragged  me  down  the  stair- 


226  The  Unchanging  East. 


'»!, 


way.  Then  ensued  an  interesting  struggle,  of 
which  I  was  a  helpless  sufferer,  each  vociferating 
in  deplorable  Arabic  expletives  that  he  was  to 
have  the  final  right  of  carrying  me  to  Tripoli. 
I  wi^nt  in  one  boat,  my  valise  in  another,  my 
overcoat  in  a  third,  and  all  three  desperadoes 
united  when  we  landed  in  claiming  due  recom- 
pense. But  the  trouble  actually  began  when 
I  was  thrown  into  the  stern  of  a  boat  and  held 
down  by  a  minion  thereof,  so  that  I  could  not 
escape.  Everybody  was  tossing  their  bedding 
and  baskets  and  water-cans  and  lunch-baskets 
over  the  side,  trusting  to  Providence  that  they 
would  land  in  some  boat.  I  thought  for  awhile 
I  was  going  to  share  the  fate  of  Desdemona  as 
the  mattresses  and  blankets  came  raining  down 
upon  me.  When  the  boat-race  restarted  again 
for  the  shore,  the  rowers  pulling  like  madmen 
and  cursing  each  other,  I  had  time  to  look 
around  and  see  that  my  companion,  who  was 
crushed  in  between  a  couple  of  Arabs  in  another 
boat,  looked  very  much  the  worse  for  wear.  I 
hailed  him  and  bade  him  be  of  good  cheer.  He 
replied  dolefully  that  he  had  lost  all  his  belong- 
ings, and  I  comforted  him  by  telling  him  I  was 
in  the  same  fix.     We  now  missed  the  genial 


gle,  of 
^rating 
was  to 
fripoli. 
ler,  my 
iradoes 
recom- 
\  when 
id  held 
uld  not 
)edding 
baskets 
at  they 
•  awhile 
nona  as 
[g  down 
id  again 
nadmen 
to  look 
;rho  was 
another 
vear.     I 
;er.    He 
belong- 
m  I  was 
lc  genial 


r-" 

O 

u 

El] 

> 

1— I 

< 


6 


U3 


The  Unchanging  East.  229 


Selim  G.  Tabet,  for  no  one  could  speak  a  word 
of  our  language,  and  we  seemed  to  be  in  the 
hands  of  the  most  turbulent  populace  that  lived 
on  all  the  borders  of  the  Mediterranean.  Land- 
ing by  the  side  of  a  tall  pier,  the  boatmen  hauled 
us  up  on  the  deck  of  it,  by  the  collar,  as  if  there 
wasn't  a  moment  to  spare  and  we  were  bales  of 
perishable  goods  for  immediate  delivery.  Our 
clothes  were  torn,  and  when  my  companion  was 
hove  up  alongside  of  me  we  were  two  forlorn, 
ragamuffinly-looking  individuals.  All  the  other 
passengers,  being  accustomed  to  this  sort  of 
usage,  sauntered  on  their  way  down  the  pier, 
but  we  two  remained  at  the  end  of  it,  sur- 
rounded by  no  less  than  six  boatmen,  each  of 
whom  demanded  immense,  but  unintelligible 
sums  of  money  which  they  represented  by 
spreading  the  fingers  of  one  hand  aloft,  and 
shaking  the  other  fist  at  us.  The  man  who 
had  taken  on  my  valise  demanded  his  pay,  the 
boatman  who  had  actually  transported  me  de- 
manded his  pay,  and  the  fellow  who  seemed  to 
be  declaring  that  he  had  run  great  dangers 
in  protecting  my  overcoat  also  demanded  cash 
before  he  would  give  up  my  garment.  In  the 
same  manner  three  others  surrounded  my  friend. 


230  The  Unchanging  East. 

"  What  are  we  to  do  ? "  he  said,  in  despair. 
**  Why  didn't  we  bring  Selim  along  to  protect 
us  ? " 

"I'm  sure  I  don't  know,"  I  repHed,  " but  if 
there  is  no  one  in  this  place  who  can  speak  Eng- 
lish, I  expect  we'll  have  to  camp  out  on  the  end 
of  the  pier  for  the  night." 

Finally  there  came  along  slowly  toward 
us  a  dignified  Turkish  official  who  spoke 
French. 

"  What  is  the  trouble  ?*'  he  asked. 

"  No  trouble  at  all,"  I  answered,  "  except  that 
I  want  a  permit  from  the  Turkish  Government 
to  kill  at  least  five  of  these  ruffians.  We  were 
going  on  to  Alexandretta,  when  these  villains 
came  aboard,  t6ok  our  things,  and  bundled  us 
into  the  boats.  There  isn't  another  steamer  for 
a  week,  and  so  we  want  to  know  to  whom  we 
must  look  for  our  expenses  and  due  recompense 
for  this  outrage." 

"  Oh,"  said  the  Turk,  "  that  was  a  most  seri- 
ous thing  to  do.  Do  you  mean  to  say  they 
have  hauled  you  ashore  here  against  your 
will.?" 

"Certainly,'*  I  replied,  unblushingly ;  "we 
were    under    the    Sultan's    protection    on    an 


II    I 


m 


The  Unchanging  East.  231 

Egyptian  steamer,  and  I  am  sure  his  officers 
will  not  allow  as  to  be  kidnapped  in  this  man- 
ner in  spite  of  our  protests." 

An  instant  silence  had  fallen  upon  the  six 
pirates  on  the  advent  of  the  officer.  They 
awaited  with  some  anxiety  tne  result  of  our 
conference,  looking  from  one  to  the  other  of 
us.  The  Turkish  official  uttered  a  few  quiet 
words  very  solemnly,  which  evidently  explained 
to  them  that  they  had  kidnapped  two  Alexan- 
dretta  passengers  in  their  zeal.  The  effect  on 
his  listeners  was  instantaneous.  They  dropped 
our  property  on  the  deck  of  the  pier  before  he 
had  completed  the  sentence,  turned,  and  ran 
like  deer.  They  were  a  set  of  villains  with  bare, 
brown  legs,  and  the  pace  they  accomplished  in 
their  flight  I  have  never  seen  equalled.  As 
there  seemed  to  be  some  chance  that  they  might 
be  stopped  by  an  officer  at  the  shore  end  of  the 
pier,  some  of  them  leaped  into  the  shallow 
water,  and  thus  splashed  to  land ;  others,  how- 
ever, got  through  the  gate  without  being  arrested, 
and  a  moment  later  all  six  had  disappeared  into 
the  town.  They  evidently  determined  to  put 
a  Limited  Liability  Act  as  speedily  as  possible 
between  themselves  and  the   consequences   of 


M 


i 


232  The  Unchanging  East. 

their  alleged  assault.  The  officer  turned  to  us 
with  a  smile. 

"It  is  all  righi-,"  I  assured  him,  "and  now,  if 
you  will  tell  us  how  much  we  honestly  owe  the 
men  who  brought  us  ashore,  we  will  pay  it 
cheerfully." 

The  officer  replied  that  twenty-five  cents  each 
to  our  actual  transporters  would  be  ample,  and 
this  we  ultimately  paid  when  fear  had  subsided 
in  the  bosoms  of  our  kidnappers,  and  they  came 
to  our  hotel  later,  whining  for  cheir  money. 

There  seemed  to  be  but  one  hotel  in  the  im- 
portant town  of  Tripoli-by-the-Shore,  and  this 
was  a  large  square  building  rising  from  the 
edge  of  the  water,  and  bearing  on  its  side  the 
pretentious  announcement,  "  Grand  Hotel  of  Eu- 
rope and  Asia,"  or  words  to  that  effect.  We 
found  it  landlorded  by  a  corpulent  Greek,  and, 
without  wishing  to  compliment  his  tavern  at  all, 
I  may  say  it  was  the  vilest  hole  we  ever  got  into 
either  in  Europe,  Asia,  or  Africa,  or  any  other 
continent.  The  Arabs  and  Turks  who  were 
our  fellow  lodgers  were  not  nearly  in  such  bad 
plight  as  we  were,  because  they  brought  their 
bedding  with  them,  and  took  empty  rooms,  which 
they  thus  furnished  for  the  night.      The  hotel 


The  Unchanging  East.  233 


to  us 

low,  if 
ve  the 
pay  it 

:s  each 
le,  and 
bsided 
r  came 

he  im- 
id  this 
Ti  the 
de  the 
of  Eu- 
.  We 
k,  and, 
at  all, 
ot  into 
other 
were 
:h  bad 
:  their 
which 
I  hotel 


had  a  lovely  situation,  and  if  it  had  been  rightly 
kept,  might  have  been  a  delightful  place  to  stay 
in.  A  balcony  extended  along  the  whole  front 
of  the  upper  story,  and  here,  not  knowing  the 
food  and  lodging  that  awaited  us,  we  brought 
out  our  chairs  and  sat  congratulating  ourselves 
on  the  fine  view  of  the  Mediterranean  and  the 
outlying  islands  it  possessed.  We  had  to  exer- 
cise some  care  on  this  balcony,  for  ^ne  boards 
were  broken  and  rotten,  and  the  wonder  is  we 
did  not  drop  through  to  the  street  below.  The 
fat  landlord  knew  only  two  phrases  of  the  Eng- 
lish language.  One  was  "  Not  good  }  "  and  the 
other  was  "  All  right."  I  don't  suppose  the  man 
has  washed  himself  since  the  Acropolis  was 
built.  We  had  several  courses  for  dinner,  each 
one,  if  possible,  worse  than  what  had  gone  be- 
fore, and  all  practically  uneatable.  The  land- 
lord himself  was  our  waiter,  and  when  he  flung 
down  the  food  on  the  board  he  would  ejaculate 
in  an  interrogative  tone  of  voice,  "  Not  good } " 
and  when  we  shook  our  heads,  he  cheerfully 
replied,  with  satisfaction,  in  an  affirmative  inflec- 
tion, "  Not  good  !  All  right."    And  so  he  left  us. 


M 


im 


I 


\}  ..i 


^ 


CHAPTER    X. 

On  the  Track  of  Beer  —  An  Anxious  Search  for  a  Drink  — 
A  Friendly  Stranger  —  A  Personally  Conducted  Tour 
around  Tripoli  —  Embarrassing  Politeness  —  An  Old  Cas- 
tle as  a  Jail. 

IT  was  too  late  that  night  to  explore  Tripoli, 
so,  being  tired,  we  betook  ourselves  to  bed- 
rooms that  were  veritable  chambers  of  horror, 
such  as  Madame  Tussaud  never  dreamt  of. 
Next  day,  breakfast  was  brought  to  us  con- 
sisting of  eggs,  bread  and  butter,  and  little 
thimble  cups  of  Turkish  coffee.  T  le  butter 
not  being  fit  ior  axle-grease,  we  left  it  alone, 
and  the  bread  was  unspeakable  and  revolting. 
I  rummaged  around  the  place  hoping  to  find 
something  either  eatable  or  drinkable,  and  came 
upon  an  empty  beer  bottle  which  had  on  it  the 
brand  of  a  well-known  firm  in  Munich.  Beneath 
the  magic  title  **  Munich  "  appeared  an  unpro- 
nounceable name  and  address  in  Tripoli.  That 
there  should  be  prime  bottles  of  Munich  beer 

234 


I 


r  a  Drink  — 
lucted  Tour 
An  Old  Cas- 


-e  Tripoli, 
es  to  bed- 
o£  horror, 
Ireamt  of. 
o  us  con- 
and  little 
le  butter 

it  alone, 

revolting. 

g  to  find 

and  came 

on  it  the 

Beneath 
an  unpro- 
Dli.  That 
mich  beer 


The  Unchanging  East.  235 

in  this  outlandish  thirsty  place,  seemed  too 
good  news  to  be  true.  Taking  the  bottzo  with 
me  I  sought  the  landlord,  who  was  plucking  a 
lean  pigeon  on  the  flat  roof  of  his  house,  a 
handy  place,  because  the  feathers  then  would 
fly  all  over  the  town  without  further  trouble  to 
him. 

**  Have  you  got  any  more  bottles  of  this 
brand  ?''  I  inquired. 

"  Not  good  .?  "  he  asked. 

"  Very  good  indeed  if  you  have  got  any  more 
of  it,"  I  replied. 

"  Not  good ;  all  right,"  and  he  went  nn  with 
his  plucking.  No  further  information  was  it 
possible  to  get  out  of  him,  so  I  took  the  label 
off  the  bottle,  and,  with  my  friend,  started  on  a 
pilgrimage  for  beer.  It  was  soon  evident  that 
the  liquor  merchant  did  not  reside  in  the  port 
town.  The  real  city  of  Tripoli  is  about  two 
miles  inland,  and  is  connected  by  a  weird  tram- 
way line  with  the  harbour.  We  mounted  to 
the  top  of  the  vehicle  that  was  waiting,  and 
jingled  up  to  the  inland  town,  passing  along  the 
side  of  a  road  that  was  bordered  by  luxuria*^.t 
orange  groves ;  in  fact,  the  plain  of  Tripoli 
seems  to  be  fertile  beyond  expression.     Every 


■1^ 


^     m 


It 


236  The  Unchanging  East. 

tree  was  a  dense  mass  of  foliage,  and  the  golden 
fruit  was  hanging  down  its  back.  We  met 
caravans  of  camels  trudging  down  to  the  port 
like  a  circus  procession. 

Our  thirst,  which  had  not  been  quenched  for 
days  and  days,  increased  as  wc  continued  our 
search  for  the  beer  bottles.  **  He  who  drinks 
beer,  thinks  beer,"  says  the  proverb,  but  he 
who  has  a  desert  thirst  in  his  throat,  and  knows 
there  is  good  beer  in  the  neighbourhood,  if  he 
can  only  find  it,  thinks  beer  more  earnestly 
than  the  other  fellow.  At  last,  on  the  narrow 
main  street  of  the  real  Tripoli,  we  came  upon 
the  beer  merchant ;  and  his  walls,  lined  with 
bins  of  real  brown  bottled  Munich,  were,  by  all 
odds,  the  most  picturesque  sight  we  had  seen 
in  the  East.  The  merchant  was  conversing 
with  a  man  who  seemed  to  be  an  officer  of 
some  kind,  and  this  gentleman  kindly  translated 
to  the  merchant  our  yearning  desire  for  beer. 
The  merchant,  however,  appeared  to  have  no 
desire  for  custom,  and  slowly  shook  his  bead, 
enunciating  something  in  Arabic. 

**  He  says,"  the  interpreter  told  us,  "  that  he 
sells  only  at  wholesale  ;  if  you  want  beer  to  drink 
you  must  go  to  the  hotel,  and  there  order  it." 


!!' 


golden 
e  met 
le  port 

led  for 
ed  our 
drinks 
but  he 
knows 
1,  if  he 
.rnestly 
narrow 
e  upon 
;d  with 
;,  by  all 
id  seen 
versing 
(icer  of 
nslated 
)r  beer, 
ave  no 
s  bead, 

that  he 
:o  drink 

'a.    " 

lY  it. 


O 

06 
u 


The  Unchanging  East  239 


"But,"  I  protested,  "we  have  just  come  from 
the  hotel,  and  could  find  no  beer.  The  propri- 
etor says  he  has  no  more  Munich,  and  that  is 
why  we  came  here." 

"  Which  hotel  are  you  staying  at  .^  " 

"  Good  heavens !  you  don't  mean  to  say  there 
is  another !  I  wish  we  had  known  that.  It 
cannot  be  worse  than  the  one  we  have  left.*' 

"  There  is  a  very  good  hotel  indeed  up  the 
street,  about  five  minutes'  walk  from  here.  I 
will  show  you  the  way,  and  then  you  can  get 
your  beer." 

This  obliging  individual  accompanied  us  up 
the  street.  Narrow  as  this  thoroughfare  was, 
the  hotel  projected  half-way  across  it.  It 
seemed  to  be  much  cleaner  than  the  one  we 
had  left,  and  we  now  regretted  we  had  not 
known  of  this  hostelry.  Pouring  water  is 
everywhere  audible  and  visible  in  Tripoli,  a 
pleasant  fact  which  gives  the  place  a  unique 
distinction  among  Eastern  cities.  It  bubbles 
up  in  great  marble  basins,  and  seems  to  be 
illimitable  in  quantity,  allowed  to  run  waste 
with  a  lavishness  which  is  rare  on  that  coast. 
Our  guide  took  us  to  a  corner  room  and  seated 
us  at  a  window  looking  down  the  narrow  street, 


it 


1 1 


I    rJ 


1 1 

!  !| 


ir' 


'I 


1 


1    !' 
I 


240  The  Unchanging  East. 

where  a  row  of  kneeling  camels  were  being 
laden  with  boxes  and  bales.  The  proprietor  of 
the  hotel  came  to  us  wiping  his  hands  on  an 
apron.  As  his  hotel  was  much  cleaner  than 
the  other,  so  he  seemed  to  have  washed  later  in 
the  Christian  era  than  our  fat  host  down  at  the 
coast.  The  beer-yearning  condition  of  our 
throats  was  explained  to  him  and  he  departed, 
being  beseeched  not  to  lose  any  unnecessar}* 
time.  A  few  moments  later  we  saw  him  hurry- 
ing down  the  street  toward  the  beer-merchant's 
premises,  and  finally  he  reappeared  up  the 
street  with  a  bottle  by  the  neck  in  each  hand. 
As  I  remember,  these  bottles  cost  us  about  a 
dollar  each,  but  they  were  worth  their  weight 
in  gold.  We  offered  our  guide  a  bottle,  but  he 
declined,  saying  he  never  drank  beer.  He  sat 
there  smiling  and  polite,  and  as  we  had  already 
tendered  to  him  our  most  effusive  thanks,  and 
bade  him  farewell  three  or  four  times  without 
his  showing  any  inclination  to  go,  we  began  to 
wonder  what  we  were  to  do  with  him.  He 
didn't  look  like  the  man  to  whom  we  could 
offer  money,  and  already  we  had  expressed  our 
obligation  to  him  as  far  as  words  were  con- 
cerned.    Finally,  when  the  beer  was  consumed, 


K 


being 
stor  of 
on  an 
r  than 
ater  in 
at  the 
)f    our 
parted, 
:essar)^ 
hurry- 
chant's 
ap   the 
I  hand. 
,bout  a 
weight 
but  he 
e  sat 
Iready 
s,  and 
ithout 
[gan  to 
He 
could 
led  our 
e  con- 
lUmed, 


The  Unchanging  East.  241 

we  paid  our  bill,  rose,  and  shook  hands  with 
him  once  more.  He  rose  also,  returned  our 
greeting  most  cordially,  and  accompanied  us 
down  to  the  street.  Here  we  reiterated  our 
gratitude,  lifted  our  hats  in  farewell  salutation, 
and  turned  to  depart,  but  he  stood  by  us. 

"  You  are  going  to  see  Tripoli,  perhaps .? "  he 
said.     I  replied  that  such  was  the  intention. 

"  It  is  the  most  beautiful  town  in  the  world," 
he  alleged,  enthusiastically ;  and  on  my  admit- 
ting that  this  fact  had  hitherto  been  concealed 
from  me,  he  launched  out  in  praise  of  its  pic- 
turesque situation,  the  amplitude  of  unfailing 
flowing  water,  adding  that  it  had  more  soap 
factories  than  any  town  of  its  size  on  earth. 
I  inquired  what  they  did  with  the  soap,  and  he 
informed  me  it  was  used  for  washing. 

"  Not  in  Tripoli,"  I  ventured.  "  The  demand 
must  come  from  the  outside."  He  admitted  this 
was  the  case,  but  added  that  Tripoli  had  more 
Turkish  baths  than  any  place  of  its  size  in 
Syria.  This  was  stupefying  intelligence,  for  al- 
though you  may  export  soap,  the  inhabitants  of 
a  town  must  support  their  own  Turkish  baths. 
He  turned  us  down  a  narrower  street  than  the 
one  we  were  in,  and  stopped  at  a  place  covered 


The  Unchanging  East. 

with  a  large  dome.  We  entered  a  large  room 
filled  with  greenish  light,  and  found  ourselves 
under  the  big  dome.  The  floor  was  of  marble, 
and  a  circular  marble  tank,  over  whose  rounded 
edge  water  was  flowing,  occupied  the  centre  of 
the  apartment. 

"  What's  this  ? "  I  asked ;  "  a  mosque  ?  " 

"  No,  a  Turkish  bath." 

Attendants  most  meagrely  attired,  with  long 
Turkish  towels  over  their  shoulders,  their  bare 
feet  in  clattering  wooden  sandals,  flitted  about 
the  dimly  lighted  room.  The  illumination  of 
the  dome  was  attended  to  in  a  most  unique 
manner.  When  the  rounded  cupola  had  been 
built  of  stone  and  cement,  bottles  were  placed 
mouth  upwards  in  the  mortar.  There  were 
some  hundreds  of  all  sizes  and  shapes :  beer 
bottles,  whiskey  bottles,  coloured  bottles,  and 
clear  glass  bottles.  The  arched  roof  was  still 
rain-proof,  and  what  light  there  was,  filtered 
through  the  bottoms  of  these  bottles. 

Once  outside  in  the  narrow  street,  we  again 
shook  hands  with  our  comrade,  who  again  warmly 
returned  the  hand-pressure,  and  again  walked 
contentedly  along  by  our  side.  He  said  it  was 
a  delight  to  show  his  beautiful  city  to  appreci- 


The  Unchanging  East.  243 


large  room 
ourselves 
of  marble, 
se  rounded 
e  centre  of 


que 


»» 


I,  with  long 
,  their  bare 
itted  about 
nination  of 
lost  unique 
[a  had  been 
vere  placed 
rhere  were 
lapes :  beer 
bottles,  and 
of  was  still 
^ras,   filtered 

2S. 

*t,  we  again 
gain  warmly 
gain  walked 
said  it  was 
r  to  appreci- 


ative strangers.  My  friend  and  myself,  speaking 
English,  Wi  ch  this  man  did  not  understand, 
consulted  as  to  what  we  were  to  do.  We  didn't 
want  to  insult  him  b  '  offering  him  a  tip,  and 
yet  if  he  hung  like  th^ .  to  us,  and  really  desired 
a  tip,  we  certainly  wished  to  give  it  to  him,  for 
he  evidently  knew  the  place  thoroughly,  and 
was  an  excellent  and  intelligent  guide.  But  his 
costume  and  his  manners  made  it  impossible 
that  he  should  be  a  professional  cicerone.  We 
wandered  through  the  maze  of  bazaars,  finding 
them,  after  those  of  Damascus,  the  most  inter- 
esting we  had  seen.  He  took  us  down  into  a 
lower  part  of  the  city,  where  the  thoroughfares 
were  only  wide  enough  for  two  people  to  walk 
abreast ;  then  under  a  dark  archway,  and  out 
on  to  a  bridge  which  spanned  a  rapid  river, 
whose  clear  water  babbled  musically  through 
the  centre  of  the  city  on  its  way  to  the  sea. 
On  each  side  of  the  stream  houses  sprang  right 
from  the  edge  of  the  water,  with  numerous  bal- 
conies hanging  over  the  swift  current.  It  was 
a  charming  sight,  with  something  suggestive  of 
Venice  about  it.  After  admiring  the  view  and 
praising  it  as  it  deserved,  which  eulogy  seemed 
to    give    great    pleasure    to    our   guide,    I,   in 


r 


244  The  Unchanging  East. 

desperation,  offered  him  two  silver  mejedehs, 
which  amounted  to  a  little  over  a  dollar  and  a 
half.  He  waved  these  coins  gracefully  aside, 
smiling  benignly. 

**  If  you  will  come  with  me  now,"  he  said,  "  I 
shall  take  you  to  the  prison." 

This  seemed,  all  in  all,  the  right  sort  of  pun- 
ishment for  the  glaring  insult  I  had  been  guilty 
of  in  offering  money  to  one  who  was  evidently 
a  gentleman.  We  followed  him  up  a  steep  hill 
to  a  great  stone  castle  overhanging  the  precipi- 
tous cliff  that  borders  the  rapid  river.  From 
the  western  front  of  this  castle  there  was  an 
amazing  view  of  the  minarets,  domes,  and  spires 
of  the  city,  for  about  half  of  the  population  of 
Tripoli  are  Christians,  and  twenty  or  thirty 
church  spires  contend  with  the  minaret.  Be- 
yond was  the  vivid  green  of  the  orange  groves 
terminating  at  the  shores  of  the  bay.  Then  in 
the  distance  the  seaside  town,  and  to  the  horizon 
the  unbroken  blue  of  the  Mediterranean.  The 
guide  was  as  pleased  with  our  outspoken  admi- 
ration of  the  prospect  as  if  he  himself  was  the 
owner  of  the  whole  landscape.  With  enthusi- 
astic joy  he  pointed  out,  in  the  grim  wall  of  the 
castle,  a  round  iron  cannon-ball  which,  he  said. 


The   Unchanging  East.  245 


mejedehs, 
liar  and  a 
illy  aside, 

le  said,  "  I 

>rt  of  piin- 
)een  guilty 
i  evidently 
1  steep  hill 
he  precipi- 
rer.     From 
ere  was  an 
,  and  spires 
pulation  of 
or   thirty 
naret.     Be- 
nge  groves 
Then  in 
the  horizon 
tiean.     The 
oken  admi- 
elf  was  the 
ith  enthusi- 
wall  of  the 
ich,  he  said, 


T. 


had  been  fired  years  ago,  by  the  British  fleet ; 
and  if  that  was  the  case,  the  shooting  was 
remarkably  excellent.  I  don't  know  how  far 
out  the  ship  stood,  but  the  projectile  had  to 
cover  something  like  two  miles  of  land  before 
it  came  to  rest  in  the  walls  of  the  citadel.  This 
castle  is  said  to  have  been  built  by  the  Cru- 
saders, who  held  Tripoli  for  five  years.  And 
certainly  it  is  as  gloomy  and  mediaeval  looking 
a  structure  as  could  well  be  imagined.  Passing 
up  an  ascending  crooked  tunnel,  we  were  ad- 
mitted, after  some  parley,  by  the  opening  of 
massive  but  dilapidated  oaken  iron-bolted  gates. 
Here  was  an  amazing  open  courtyard,  bordered 
by  every  possible  style  of  building.  In  some 
structurevS,  that  were  simply  great  iron  cages, 
similar  to,  but  larger  than,  those  at  the  Zoo  in 
which  tigers  are  confined,  crouched  unfortunate 
wretches  who  were,  our  guide  informed  us, 
mostly  Armenians,  probably  there  for  the  crime 
of  allowing  the  Turk  to  massacre  their  relatives. 
In  some  instances  outsiders  had  bribed  their 
way  through  the  massive  gates,  and  now  squat- 
ting in  front  of  a  cage,  held  converse  with  its 
inmate,  a  Turkish  soldier  standing  by,  so  that 
no  treason  might  be  talked. 


i"1 '' 


331 


246  The   Unchanging  East. 

As  we  stood  in  the  centre  of  the  square, 
several  cages  were  opened,  .-  nd  their  inmates 
came  crouching  toward  us,  kneeling  down  at 
our  feet  and  endeavouring  to  kiss  our  hands. 
I  asked  our  guide  what  this  loathsome  abase- 
ment meant,  and  he  said  they  were  begging  for 
money,  which  they  would  give  to  their  guards, 
and  so  purchase  certain  immunities.  We  be- 
stowed money  upon  them,  which  the  guards 
at  once  appropriated  and  drove  the  wretches 
back  cringing  into  their  cages.  On  the  eastern 
side  of  this  immense  prison  there  is  practically 
no  wall,  and  one  can  stand  at  the  edge,  and 
look  down  the  dizzy  precipice  formed  by  the 
side  of  the  prison  and  the  rocky  cliff  beneath, 
to  the  edge  of  the  river.  Away  below,  an 
industrious  donkey  and  a  revolving  wheel  con- 
tinually pump  up  water  for  the  use  of  the 
garrison  and  prisoners.  We  were  glad  to  get 
out  of  this  abode  of  misery  and  descend  once 
more  to  the  city.  Our  bewildering  self-appointed 
guide  took  us  through  a  maze  of  streets,  and  at 
last  along  a  little  alley  into  a  private  house. 
Leading  us  up  one  flight  of  stairs  to  a  large, 
bright,  and  exceedingly  clean  room,  around  the 
walls  of  which  ran  a  couch,  he  announced  that 


e  square, 
•  inmates 
;  down  at 
ur  hands, 
me  abase- 
igging  for 
ir  guards, 
We  be- 
le  guards 
wretches 
le  eastern 
practically 
edge,  and 
id  by  the 
F  beneath, 
below,  an 
Awheel  con- 
se  of  the 
lad  to  get 
cend  once 
-appointed 
2ts,  and  at 
ite  house, 
o  a  large, 
round  the 
meed  that 


r : ^  ,    .V =— =— 

M'^ 

f^^m 

r#'  ')i^ 

H^HH           ^v'         ^ 

^■^  ^W 

J^jtifct'.f^lflHI^fa 

Wj^l 

^1 

■■■^■■^KgKg^^^ 

ifjM 

W^ 

l^^iL' 

r^  v 

^^f^L                  i 

^    \ 

m[A..  i 

1 
• 

1 

\WJamL      ■W    ^^Wk.  ^'  V 

>      > 

■4 

.4. 1  mi 

•    / 

• 

z.^-mr 

k    ~ 

'    •••,•'.*'** 

1^      ^M; 

■iF 

« 

*i 

TURKISH    WOMEN. 


<n 


The  Unchanging  East.  249 

this  was  his  house  and  bade  us  be  seated. 
Then  he  produced  a  basket  full  of  photographs 
which  seemed  to  inc!  ide  all  his  relatives  scat- 
tered over  Syria  and  elsewhere,  and  for  a  time 
we  gazed  on  these,  afraid  to  make  any  comment, 
and  not  knowing  exactly  what  to  do  in  the 
circumstances.  Presently  an  old  lady  and  a 
young  girl  of  about  twenty,  who  was  charmingly 
pretty,  came  in  and  were  introduced  to  us  as 
the  mother  and  sister  of  our  host.  This  meet- 
ing gave  us  the  knowledge  that,  whoever  our 
guide  might  be,  he  was  no  Mohammedan,  for  in 
a  Moslem  household  it  is  a  breach  of  etiquette 
even  to  inquire  after  the  health  of  your  host's 
family.  A  servant  brought  in  a  plate  of  sweets 
such  as  we  had  never  seen  or  tasted  before,  and 
which  we  took  with  some  dismay.  There  were 
also  handed  to  us  saucers  of  a  reddish  gelatinous 
substance,  exceedingly  sugary,  which  was  eaten 
with  a  s;ioon.  But  however  questionably  adapted 
for  Western  palates  the  sweets  were,  there  was 
no  doubt  whatever  about  the  tea.  The  young 
lady  herself  made  it  in  an  adjoining  room,  and 
we  could  see  her,  through  the  doorway,  busied 
with  a  Russian  samovar.  I  shall  always  regret 
that  I  had  not  the  courage  to  go  into  the  next 


^ 


iiu 


250  The  Unchanging  East. 

room  and  learn  how  that  tea  was  made,  for  it 
was  by  all  odds  the  best  I  have  ever  tasted. 
It  was  served  in  thinnish  glasses,  each  sup- 
ported by  a  filigree  receptacle  of  crusted  siher 
with  a  handle  to  it.  A  bit  of  fresh  lemon, 
apparently  just  brought  in  from  the  garden  by 
the  servant,  was  in  every  glass,  and  the  fluid 
was  of  a  rich  straw  colour,  possessing  an  aroma 
and  quality  that  were  delicious.  Never  before 
or  since  have  I  had  tea  to  compare  with  it. 
Our  guide,  who  always  exhibited  a  childlike 
delight  in  a*>ything  that  pleased  us,  said  the 
tea  had  come  on  camels'  backs  overland  from 
China  to  Tripoli,  and  that  it  was  made  in  Chino- 
Russian  fashion.  I  began  to  fear  that  we  were 
never  going  to  be  allowed  to  leave  Tripoli,  but 
at  last  said  to  him  we  were  every  moment  ex- 
pecting a  large  steamer,  and  we,  being  afraid  to 
miss  it,  begged  to  take  our  leave.  He  replied 
cordially  that  there  was  no  need  of  hurrying; 
that  the  bay  could  be  seen  from  the  top  of  the 
house,  and  he  would  at  once  reconnoitre  and 
find  out  if  the  steamer  were  in  sight,  v/ii  re- 
turning, he  reported  that  the  waters  of  the 
Mediterranean  were  absolutely  steamerless,  and 
that  it  must  be  hours  before  a  craft  of  any  kind 


The  Unchanging  East.  251 


,de,  for  it 
er  tasted, 
^ach    sup- 
ted  siher 
>h  lemon, 
garden  by 
the  fluid 
an  aroma 
^er  before 
i  with  it. 
childlike 
said  the 
and  from 
in  Chino- 
:  we  were 
ripoli,  but 
Dment  ex- 
afraid  to 
[e  replied 
hurrying ; 
op  of  the 
oitre  and 
y^a  re- 
s   of   the 
"less,  and 
any  kind 


came  into  the  port.  As  I  saw  with  apprehen- 
sion that  orders  had  been  given  for  the  prepar- 
ing of  a  meal,  I  resolved  to  break  away  if  I  had 
to  run  for  it.  So  making  the  excuses  that 
suggested  themselves  on  the  spur  of  the  mo- 
ment, we  passed  down  the  stairs,  out  into  the 
court,  and  from  thence  into  the  street.  In  the 
hasty  consultation  that  ensued  between  my 
partner  and  myself,  he  suggested  that  we 
should  offer  gold  cO  the  man  and  not  silver. 
Just  as  we  came  to  this  decision  our  guide  was 
by  our  side,  smiling  as  usual.  I  thanked  him 
for  the  care  he  had  taken  of  us,  and  for  his 
hospitality,  and  said  that  as  we  had  no  way  of 
returning  it  unless  he  condescended  to  accept 
a  token  of  our  esteem  in  the  shape  of  the  gold 
coinage  of  the  empire,  he  would  earn  our  un- 
dying gratitude  by  thus  removing  the  obligation 
from  our  shoulders  —  in  part,  at  least.  There- 
upon he  took  the  gold  coins  T  proffered,  and  so 
our  acquaintance  with  him  ended.  What  his 
position  was  in  Tripoli,  his  name,  or  his  occu- 
pation, I  haven't  the  slightest  idea,  but  through 
his  agency  we  certainly  saw  the  town  as  thor- 
oughly as  any  two  foreigners  since  the  Crusades. 
That  evening  the  welcome  hulk  of  the  Creole 


..!:'■! 


252  The  Unchanging  East. 

Prince  appeared  in  the  bay,  and  glad  indeed  we 
were  to  find  ourselves  once  more  aboard.  The 
excellence  of  the  fare,  the  cleanliness  of  the 
lodging,  the  delight  of  the  smoking-room,  the 
comfort  of  the  big  saloon  were  probably  never 
so  thoroughly  appreciated  by  any  two  returning 
prodigals  before.  We  swore  we  would  never 
leave  the  ship  again,  but  cruise  with  her  up  and 
down  the  Syrian  coast  as  was  her  delightful 
habit.  In  this  resolve,  however,  we  reckoned 
without  the  Turk,  as  we  were  very  shortly  to 
discover. 


END    OF    VOL.    I. 


ndeed  we 
.rd.  The 
ss  of  the 
oom,  the 
bly  never 
returning 
lid  never 
2r  up  and 
ielightful 
reckoned 
hortly  to 


INDEX 


Acre,  220. 
Aden,  98. 
Africa,   Northern  coast   of, 

40-41. 
Ainata,  1 54,  1 59. 
Akka,  Bay  of,  219. 
Alexandretta,  230. 
Alexandria,  98. 

Egyptian  police,  lOi. 

The  currency,  101-104. 

Pompey's  Pillar,  107. 
Algeria,  The  French  in,  60. 
Alouf,  Michael  M.,  152-165. 
Angelo,  Michael,  97. 
Ayoub,  160-163. 

Baalbec,  134,  136,  171. 

Description  of,  1 39-- 140. 
Its  origin,  140-145. 
Temple  of  the  Sun,  145, 

148. 
Temple  of  Jupiter,  145, 

148-151. 
The  tunnels,  147-148. 
Pantheon,  151. 
The  masonry,  151-152. 
Alouf 's  history,  152-165. 


Temple  of  Venus,  157. 
The  Great  Stone,  165- 

169. 
Settling  the  Tower    of 
Babel  question,   169- 
170. 
Babylon,  141. 
Baffa,  113-114. 
Bagdad,  141. 

Becheri  (Besherri),  154,  158. 
Beyrout,  1 76-181,   183,  187, 
202,  212,  218,  219. 
Description  of,  11 7-1 18. 
The     authorities,     118- 

121. 
Anecdote  of  the  custom- 
house, 122-133. 
Departure    from,    134- 

135- 
Birmingham,  Passenger  from, 

Getting  acquainted,  18. 

His  mistake,  19-23. 
Biscay,  Bay  of,  23,  24. 
Brittany,  Sailor  from,  27. 
Bryan,  Wm.  J.,  lOl. 
Buffalo,  98. 
Bunker  HUl,  28, 


253 


254 


Index 


Cairo,  103,  107. 

Railroad   to    the    Pyra- 
mids, 108. 
The  Pyramids,  108-111. 
Egyptian  tobacco,  1 1 2. 
Egyptian    troops,    112- 

"3- 
Campbell,  Mark,  captain  of 

the  Creole  Prince^  24- 

25.  45-56. 
Catnperdown,  The,  58. 
Carthage,  41,  78. 
Ceylon,  98. 
Cintra,  28-31. 
Clapham  Junction,  80. 
Coney  Island,  78. 
Creole  Prince^  The,  220. 

Arrival  on  board,  12-13. 
First  impressions  of,  14. 
In  the  Manchester  ship 

canal,  17-18. 
Meets  the  Gabrielle^  24- 

27. 
Enterinp^  the  harbour  of 

Tunis,  45-56- 
Sails  for  Cypress,  113- 

114. 
At  Beyrout,  122. 
On  board  once  more,  252. 
Crete,  58,  70. 
Cyprus,  1 1 3- 1 17. 

Damascus,  78,  118,  123,  129, 

i3o»  I33»i35'i40-i4i. 

160,  175,215,218,243. 
Arrival  at,  189. 
The  hotel,  190-193. 
Bazaars,  194-195. 
An  Arabian  abbieh,  195- 

199. 
A  carriage  ride,  199-201. 


A  Damascus  house,  201- 

206. 
A  view  of  the  city,  206- 

209, 
Parade-g  round,    210- 

211. 
Denver,  Colorado,  11. 
Dragoman  (see  Selim  G.  Ta- 

bet). 
Druses,  The,  145-146. 
Origin,  1 71-172. 
Appearance,  172-175. 
Enmity  for  the    Maron- 

ites,  175-176. 
Revolts    against    the 

Turks,  176-181. 
Religion  and  habits,  181 

-183. 
Anecdote  of  a  mission- 
ary, 183-188. 

Egypt  (see  Cairo  and  Alex- 
andria). 
El  Kuds  (see  Jerusalem). 

Gabrielle,  The 

Description  of,  23. 

Her  strange  actions,  24- 
27. 
Genoa,  117 

Gibraltar,  20,  32-35,  98. 
Goletta,  41-42. 
Goza,  79-80. 
Grenville,  France,  23. 

Hannibal,  41. 

Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  52. 

Hong  Kong,  98. 

Indian  Ocean,  26. 

Comparison    with     the 


-{>. 


iHi 


Index 


255 


house,  20 r- 

e  city,  206- 

ind,    210- 

>,  II. 

elim  G.  Ta- 

146. 

72. 

172-175- 
he   Maron- 
6. 

in  St     the 
-181. 
habits,  181 

a  mission- 
i. 

and  Alex- 
lalem). 


,  23. 
;tions,  24- 


,98. 

'■3 
indell,  52. 

^th     the 


Manchester  ship  canal, 
18. 
Ismail,    Prince    of    Baalbec, 
160-163. 

Jaffa,  220. 

Jersey,  Island  of,  87-88. 

Jerusalem,  219-220. 

Temple  of,  157. 

Second  temple  of,  157. 

Church  of  Resurrection, 
157. 

Lake  Erie,  98. 

Lake  Superior,  26. 

Larnaka,  117. 

Lebanon,  Cedars  of,  154- 

159- 
Lebanon  Mts.,  118,  130,  133- 

135,  172-188,  193,215, 

217. 
Limasol,  114. 
Lisbon,  28-31. 
Liverpool,  18,  41. 
London,  14-17,  74,  80. 

Madagascar,  The  French  in, 

60. 
Mafra,  Convent  of,  28. 
Mahomet,  65,  206. 
Malaga,  36. 

The  cathedral,  36. 

Bull-fighting  building,  36. 
Malta,  79-80,  98,  114. 

People  of,  80-83. 

English  and  French  rule 
compared,  84-86. 

Church  bells  of,  86-87. 

Opera  house,  88-92. 

Concert   in   the  square, 
91-94. 


Church  of  St.  John,  94- 

97. 
Manchester,  1 1, 18, 31, 70,  74, 

78. 
Ship  canal,    11,    14-18, 

41-42. 
Fog,  12. 
Boarding    the    steamer, 

12-14. 
Maronites,  The,  175-176. 
Mecca,  206-209. 
Mediterranean  Sea,  40. 

Comparison     with     the 

Manchester  ship  canal, 

18. 
Medina,  206. 
Mersey,  The,  17-23. 
Moorish  Castle,  39. 
Mount  Washington,  11. 
Muallakah,     135,    136,    189, 

215. 

Naboulus,  160-163. 
Naples,  118. 
Napoleon  at  Malta,  83. 
Napoleon  III.,  178. 
Newfoundland,  26,  98. 
Nile,  94. 
Nineveh,  141. 

Omar,  160-163. 
Omdurman,  94. 

Pacific  Ocean,  26. 

Comparison     with     the 
Manchester    ship    ca- 
nal, 18. 
Palmyra,  140-142. 
Paphos  (see  Baffa). 
Portugal,  Coast  of,  28-32. 
Prince  George ^  The,  220. 


256 


Index 


Russell,  Clark,  17. 

Saadeddin,  160. 

Saltus,  Edgar,  48. 

Santiago,  58. 

Selim  I.,  165. 

Shirkoh,    Prince    of    Hons, 

163. 
Sidon,  219,  220. 
Singapore,  98. 
Spain,  Southern  coast  of,  36- 

40. 
Sphinx,  103,  108. 
Stevenson,     Robert     Louis, 

187. 
Stewart,  Mr.,  second  officer 

of  the    Creole  Prince^ 

51-52- 

Tabet,    Selim    G.,    212-217, 

229,  230. 
Tagus  River,  The,  31. 
Tamelan,  164. 
Tiberias,  219. 
Tiberias,  Lake,  220. 
Tripoli,  141,  219,  220. 

Going  ashore,  224-232. 

An    awful    hotel,    232- 

234- 


A  search  for  beer,  234- 

240. 
Viewing   the  city,   241- 

247.' 
Taking  tea,  249-251. 
Tunis,  41,  42,  79. 
Canal,  41-47. 
Basin,  47-56. 
Avenue  de    la    Marine, 

60-63. 
Bab-el-Bahr    (Porte    de 

France),  63. 
Caf^s  Chantants,  63,  65. 
Arabs,  64-65. 
Moorish      performance, 

65-70. 
Bazaars,  70-77. 
Guides,  73-78. 
Manufactures,  78. 
Tunis,  Bay  of,  41. 
Twain,  Mark,  108-111,  134. 
Tyre,  219,  220. 

Valetta,8o. 
Vancouver,  98. 

Wartz,  65. 

Yammouni,  159. 


or  beer,  234- 
le  city,   241- 

249-251. 

?• 

7- 

6. 

la    Marine, 

(Porte    de 

63. 

tants,  63,  65. 

'5- 
performance, 

-n- 

78. 

es,  78. 

[. 

»8-iii,  134. 


mmm 


I 


